Bradley v. St. Louis City Municipal Court

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER re: 2 ORDERED that petitioner's motion to proceed in forma pauperis [Doc. #2] is GRANTED. FURTHER ORDERED that petitioner's etition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2241 is DISMISSED.. Signed by Honorable Jean C. Hamilton on 7/20/11. (CEL)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
CORY BRADLEY,
Petitioner,
v.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY MUNICIPAL
COURTS,
Respondent.

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No. 4:11CV1143 TIA

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner seeks to overturn two 2002 municipal court
convictions for “leaving the scene of an accident” and “operating a vehicle without a
license.” Petitioner is imprisoned at the Forrest City Medium Federal Correctional
Institution in Forrest City, Arkansas, and it appears that he is currently serving a federal
sentence for charges unrelated to said conviction.
District courts have jurisdiction to entertain petitions for habeas relief only from
persons who are “in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the
United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3) (emphasis added). The custody requirement
is fulfilled when a petitioner is in custody “under the conviction or sentence under
attack at the time his petition is filed.” Maleng v. Cook, 490 U.S. 488, 490-91 (1989).

Petitioner is not currently in custody under the conviction he wishes to attack. As a
result, petitioner is not “in custody” for the purposes of § 2241(c)(3), and the Court
lacks jurisdiction to grant relief. The Court will, therefore, dismiss the petition without
further proceedings. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3); Rule 4 of the Rules Governing §
2254 Cases.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma
pauperis [Doc. #2] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that petitioner’s petition for habeas corpus
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 is DISMISSED.
Dated this 20th day of July, 2011.

/s Jean C. Hamilton
JEAN C. HAMILTON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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