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Habeas Petition Reinstated

By Shari Allison

Yellowbear v. Wyoming Attorney General, 2008 WL 748367 (3/21/08) (published) - The district court was wrong to hold the habeas 2254 petitioner had failed to exhaust his state remedies. When the petitioner filed his petition, he had not yet been convicted, but he had already argued before the state's highest court, [and obtained a decision from that court], that the state had no jurisdiction over his alleged offense, on the grounds that the offense occurred in Indian Country, But rather than decide the jurisdictional question, the 10th remanded to the district court to ask the petitioner if it would be okay to treat the petition, which pre-conviction was a 2241 petition, as a 2254 petition, because now the petitioner had been convicted. The petitioner needed to be warned any subsequent petition complaining about his conviction would be considered a successive petition, if his current petition were converted to a 2254 petition.continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).