Newman v. Norris, CORR AR

Filing 112

ORDER granting 109 Motion to Dismiss and the petition for writ of habeas corpus is dismissed. Signed by Honorable Robert T. Dawson on February 18, 2015. (rw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
FORT SMITH DIVISION
RICKEY DALE NEWMAN
V.

PETITIONER
CIVIL NO. 05-2107

WENDY KELLEY, Director
Arkansas Department of Corrections1

RESPONDENT

ORDER
The

above

referenced

matter

comes

on

for

this

Court’s

consideration of the Motion to Dismiss Petition for Writ of Habeas
Corpus (ECF 109) filed by the respondent on November 12, 2014, and
the petitioner’s Response to Motion to Dismiss Petition for Writ of
Habeas Corpus (ECF 111) filed on February 11, 2015.

The Court,

having reviewed the pleadings, finds and orders that the motion
should be, and hereby is, granted for the reasons set forth below.
Rickey Dale Newman filed his Petition for Writ of Habeas
Corpus before this Court on December 30, 2005.

In the petition, he

challenged the June 10, 2002 judgment of the Circuit Court of
Crawford County, Arkansas, convicting him of one count of Capital
Murder and imposing a sentence of death.
In an order dated February 3, 2009, this Court found certain
claims asserted by Newman to be unexhausted.

Those claims were

dismissed and the remaining claims were stayed on two conditions:

1

Wendy Kelley was officially named the Director of the
Arkansas Department of Corrections on January 13, 2015. The
Clerk of the Court is directed to amend the docket sheet
accordingly.

(1) that Newman seek relief on his unexhausted claims with the
State of Arkansas; and (2) that Newman act within 30 days of the
full exhaustion of the dismissed claims at the state level to seek
to have the stay lifted by this Court on the remaining claims.
Newman returned to state court; and, on January 16, 2014, the
Arkansas

Supreme

Court

vacated

Newman’s

conviction

and

death

sentence and remanded the case to the Circuit Court of Crawford
County for a new trial.
The respondent now asks this Court to lift the stay in this
matter and dismiss Newman’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.
The petitioner has responded; because the judgment that is the
subject of the petition for writ of habeas corpus has been vacated,
the petitioner asserts that the petition has been rendered moot.
The petitioner, therefore, agrees with the respondent’s requested
relief.
For those reasons, the motion is granted and the petition is
dismissed.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 18th day of February, 2015.

/s/ Robert T. Dawson
Robert T. Dawson
United States District Judge