Chestang v. Arkansas Department of Correction

Filing 31

ORDER adopting 26 Report and Recommendations in their entirety; therefore, Respondent's 14 Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED and this habeas petition is dismissed with prejudice; Petitioner's pending motions are hereby denied 17 19 20 21 25 28 ; judgment will be entered accordingly. Signed by Judge Susan Webber Wright on 11/23/09. (vjt)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS EASTERN DIVISION KE'ONDRA M. CHESTANG PETITIONER

V.

NO. 5:09cv00219 HLJ

LARRY NORRIS, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

RESPONDENT

ORDER The Court has reviewed the Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition received from Magistrate Judge Henry L. Jones, Jr., and the objections filed in response, and has further reviewed the relevant record de novo. The Findings and Recommendations are

adopted in their entirety as this Court's findings. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Judgment shall be entered granting Respondent's Motion to Dismiss (DE #14) and dismissing this petition for a writ of habeas corpus in its entirety, with prejudice. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's Motion for Entry of Default (DE #17), Motion to Enter a Default Judgment (DE #21), Motion to Schedule Appeal Bond Hearing Date (DE #19), Motion to Schedule Evidentiary Hearing (DE #20), and Motion for Emergency Hearing (DE #25) are hereby denied.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's Motion for Hearing (DE # 28), which was filed with his objections, is hereby denied.1 Dated this 23rd day of November, 2009. /s/Susan Webber Wright UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

In his Findings and Recommendations, Judge Jones noted that Parmley v. Norris, 2008 WL 2561964 (W.D. Ark. June 24, 2008), which held that the Arkansas Court of Appeals is not a court of last resort, is currently on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. After Judge Jones issued his Findings and Recommendation, the Eighth Circuit decided Parmley and held that the Arkansas Court of Appeals is not a court of last resort and therefore the statute of limitations began running immediately after the Arkansas Court of Appeals denied Parmley's motion for rehearing and was not tolled 90 days for Parmley to file a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court as the U.S. Supreme Court's review is limited to judgments of a state court of last resort. Parmley v. Norris, No. 08-3107, Slip. Op. (8th Cir. Nov. 16, 2009).

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