IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

In the Matter of the Personal 

Restraint of:

MUHAMMED TILLISY,

 Petitioner.

DIVISION ONE

No. 81329-3-I

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

DWYER, J. — Petitioner Muhammed Tillisy, an inmate at Monroe 

Correctional Complex, filed a personal restraint petition claiming that his 

conditions of confinement violate article I, section 14 of the Washington 

Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This 

is so, he asserts, because of the risk of harm he faces from exposure to COVID19. Because Tillisy has since been vaccinated against COVID-19, the risk of 

harm that Tillisy faces from COVID-19 has been virtually eliminated. 

Accordingly, we deny his petition as moot. 

I

Muhammed Tillisy is serving a 49 month sentence for identify theft, 

forgery, and unlawful production of a payment instrument. Tillisy suffers from 

intracranial hypertension, which has required significant medical attention and 
No. 81329-3-I/2

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has caused him to go blind in one eye. Tillisy also has high blood pressure. 

Tillisy’s body mass index is higher than 30, which places him at increased risk for 

serious illness from COVID-19. See Underlying Medical Conditions Associated 

with High Risk Severe COVID-19: Information for Healthcare Providers, CTRS.

FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION (May 13, 2021), 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinicalcare/underlyingconditions.html [https://perma.cc/TA4N-4GWB].

On April 2, 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, while Tillisy 

was being held at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, he filed an “Emergency 

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus” in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court 

designated the petition as a personal restraint petition, and transferred it to this 

court pursuant to RAP 16.5. In December 2020, our acting chief judge referred 

the petition to a panel for a determination of its merits, reasoning that Tillisy’s 

claims regarding the Department of Corrections’ management of Tillisy’s medical 

conditions and risk of COVID-19 exposure were not frivolous. In the same order, 

counsel was appointed to represent Tillisy. 

Since Tillisy’s initial petition, he has been moved to the Monroe 

Correctional Complex. He received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine on April 

20, 2021, and a second dose on June 18, 2021. 

II

Tillisy challenges only the conditions of his confinement, contending that, 

given his personal medical history, the risk of harm that he faces from exposure 
No. 81329-3-I/3

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to COVID-19 while incarcerated violates article I, section 14 of the Washington 

Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Tillisy’s circumstances have changed substantially in the time since his 

petition was initially filed. Most significantly, he has been vaccinated against 

COVID-19, reducing his risk of contracting COVID-19 by 94.1 percent.1 Indeed, 

had the staff at Monroe Correctional Complex not offered vaccination to Tillisy, 

that would have been the most likely remedy to which he would have been 

entitled. But he has been vaccinated.

Accordingly, Tillisy’s petition is now moot. We will not consider a moot 

issue, unless it concerns a matter of continuing and substantial public interest. In 

re Pers. Restraint of Silas, 135 Wn. App. 564, 568, 145 P.3d 1219 (2006). The 

only such issue here, whether article I, section 14 of our state constitution 

provides broader protection than the Eighth Amendment, has recently been 

determined by our Supreme Court and is therefore no longer in need of 

resolution. Order, No. 99344-1, In re Pers. Restraint Petition of Robert Rufus 

Williams, (Wash. Mar. 12. 2021) (declaring that article I, section 14 of the 

Washington State Constitution provides more protection than the Eighth 

Amendment to the United States Constitution).2 

Tillisy has been vaccinated—a state of the art response to the dangers of 

COVID-19. The primary legal issue raised in his petition has been decided by 

our Supreme Court. We deny his petition as moot. 

 

1Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety, CTRS. FOR DISEASE CONTROL &

PREVENTION (June 11, 2021), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/differentvaccines/Moderna.html [https://perma.cc/36HE-ADFE].

2 An opinion explaining the Supreme Court’s reasoning is forthcoming. 
No. 81329-3-I/4

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WE CONCUR: