- 7 - although the top portions of the digits in question are indecipherable, he was certain that the postmark date was “30 MAR 1999”.5 Even if we were to assume, however, that the envelope in question bears no U.S. postmark or that the date of the postmark is illegible, petitioner has nevertheless failed to carry her burden of proving that the petition was timely filed. The private postage meter mark shows at most that the envelope might have been prepared for mailing on March 29, 1999, not that it was actually mailed that day. The only other evidence that petitioner has adduced is the uncorroborated testimony of her counsel, Sallie Gladney (Gladney), who claims to have delivered the petition, along with a stack of other mail, to the 24-hour U.S. post office located at Bush International Airport, in Houston, Texas, on March 29, 1999, at “approximately” 11:30 p.m. She also testified, however, that she did not remember the exact time. Her own testimony, therefore, does not exclude the 5 Petitioner argues that the two digits in question could conceivably be something other than “30”, but has advanced no alternative possibility that is meaningful in the instant factual context. In particular, petitioner does not argue, and we do not believe, that the digits could realistically be construed as “29”, to corroborate her claim that the petition was mailed on Mar. 29, 1999. Petitioner suggests that the first digit could be construed as a zero. If so, the postmark would have been made in the first 9 days of March, a scenario that is inconsistent with petitioner’s own contention that she mailed the petition on Mar. 29, and that is unlikely in light of the Court’s receipt of the petition by U.S. mail on Apr. 5, 1999.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
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