Case Name: RANDALL R. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. Joan PALMATEER, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, Respondent
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Oregon
Decision Date: 2003-01-08
Citations: 185 Or. App. 708
Docket Number: 00C-19454; A112723
Parties: RANDALL R. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. Joan PALMATEER, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, Respondent.
Judges: Before Brewer, Presiding Judge, Deits, Chief Judge, and Kastler, Judge.
Reporter: Oregon Reports, Court of Appeals
Volume: 185
Pages: 708–709

Head Matter:
On the parties’ Joint Motion for a Reversal and Remand filed October 11, 2002,
reversed and remanded January 8, 2003
RANDALL R. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. Joan PALMATEER, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, Respondent.
00C-19454; A112723
60 P3d 1156
Harrison Latto for appellant.
Hardy Myers, Attorney General, Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General, and Brendan C. Dunn, Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.
Before Brewer, Presiding Judge, Deits, Chief Judge, and Kastler, Judge.
PER CURIAM

Opinion:
PER CURIAM
Plaintiff and the state have filed a joint motion for an order reversing the judgment entered against plaintiff in this habeas corpus case. We grant the motion. In 1986, plaintiff was convicted of multiple felonies and received an 80-year sentence with a 12-year minimum. In May 2000, the Board of Parole and Post-Prision Supervision deferred his release until November 2002 on the ground that he has a "severe emotional disturbance" that "constitutes a danger to the health or safety of the community." Plaintiff filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the board lacked authority to extend his release date because there was "no evidence in the record to support the Board's finding of a 'present severe emotional disturbance.' " The trial court, pursuant to ORS 34.370(6), dismissed the petition, ruling that there were no facts alleged that would entitle plaintiff to habeas corpus relief.
ORS 34.670(6) permits a court to dismiss a habeas petition if it is "meritless." A meritless petition is one that, "when liberally construed, fails to state a claim upon which habeas corpus relief may be granted." ORS 34.370(7). The parties, however, agree, and so do we, that plaintiff's habeas petition, liberally construed, states a claim for habeas corpus relief.
Reversed and remanded.