STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
 

William Brennan III, FILED 

Petitioner Below, Petitioner March 16, 2015 

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS vs) No. 14-0674 (Logan County 12-C-318) OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Dennis Dingus, Warden, 

Stevens Correctional Center, 

Respondent Below, Respondent 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner William Brennan III, by counsel Timothy P. Lupardus, appeals the Circuit 

Court of Logan County’s June 5, 2014, order dismissing his petition for writ of habeas corpus as 

moot. Respondent Dennis Dingus, Warden, by counsel Benjamin F. Yancey III, filed a response. 

On appeal, petitioner alleges that the circuit court erred in dismissing his petition for writ of 

habeas corpus as moot. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law and no prejudicial error. For these 

reasons, a memorandum decision affirming the circuit court’s order is appropriate under Rule 21 

of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

In October of 2006, a Logan County Grand Jury indicted petitioner on one count of 

voluntary manslaughter. Petitioner’s first trial took place in April and May of 2007 and ended in 

a hung jury. In February of 2008, petitioner was tried, by jury, and was convicted of voluntary 

manslaughter. In June of 2009, the circuit court sentenced petitioner to a term of incarceration of 

fifteen years for his conviction. While incarcerated, petitioner filed a pro se petition for writ of 

habeas corpus in November of 2012. However, the next month, petitioner fully discharged his 

sentence and was released from incarceration. Thereafter, the State filed a motion to dismiss the 

petition for writ of habeas corpus as moot. The circuit court thereafter granted the motion on 

June 5, 2014. It is from the resultant order that petitioner appeals. 

This Court reviews appeals of circuit court orders denying habeas corpus relief under the 

following standard: 

“In reviewing challenges to the findings and conclusions of the circuit 

court in a habeas corpus action, we apply a three-prong standard of review. We 

review the final order and the ultimate disposition under an abuse of discretion 

standard; the underlying factual findings under a clearly erroneous standard; and 

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questions of law are subject to a de novo review.” Syllabus point 1, Mathena v. 

Haines, 219 W.Va. 417, 633 S.E.2d 771 (2006). 

Syl. Pt. 1, State ex rel. Franklin v. McBride, 226 W.Va. 375, 701 S.E.2d 97 (2009). 

In support of his petition for appeal, petitioner admits that our past holdings support the 

circuit court’s dismissal, but asks that the Court re-examine its analysis of whether a petition for 

writ of habeas corpus is mooted by the petitioner’s release from incarceration. We decline to do 

so. We have previously held that “[a]n inmate who has been released from incarceration and 

placed on parole is no longer ‘incarcerated under sentence of imprisonment’ for purposes of 

seeking habeas corpus relief under the Post–Conviction Habeas Corpus Act, West Virginia Code 

§§ 53–4A–1 to –11 (2008).” Syl. Pt. 3, Cline v. Mirandy, -- W.Va. --, 765 S.E.2d 583 (2014). 

Similar to the petitioner in Cline who was released from incarceration on parole, petitioner 

herein was released from incarceration after fully discharging his sentence. Because petitioner 

fully discharged his sentence and was released from incarceration shortly after filing his petition 

for writ of habeas corpus, we find no error in the circuit court granting the State’s motion to 

dismiss the same as moot. 

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm. 

Affirmed. 

ISSUED: March 16, 2015 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Robin Jean Davis 

Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

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