Court Opinion

ID: 9776960
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:50:12.91126+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:45.474114
License: Public Domain

Robert L. Brown, Justice. L. Brown, Justice. I cannot disagree that our recent gree that our recent cases that touch and concern Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1 indicate that physical custody is a prerequisite to petitioning for relief. This is so even though Rule 37.1 merely uses the term “custody” and does not distinguish between legal custody or physical custody. I am mindful, however, that in this case where parole is the issue, the order of conditional release makes reference to the fact that the respondent, Bohanan, is still in legal custody. This would be sufficient custody for postconviction relief in the federal system. The federal courts have universally interpreted the term “custody” as used in 28 U.S.C. § 2254 broadly and as synonymous with restraint of liberty as opposed to actual physical custody. See, e.g., Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234 (1968) (release of the prisoner does not deprive the court of jurisdiction under federal statute); Jones v. Cunningham, 371 U.S. 236 (1963) (custody includes a person on parole); Jones v.Jerrison, 20 F.3d 849 (8th Cir. 1994) (a parolee is still in custody); Richmond v. Duke, 909 F. Supp. 626 (E.D. Ark. 1995) (parolee in Arkansas remained under State supervision and, thus, in custody). What concerns me is the hypothetical case of a petitioner who is on parole when the mandate affirming his conviction is issued. In light of today’s opinion, he cannot file a petition for Rule 37 relief. And if his parole is revoked more than sixty days after the mandate is issued, and he is incarcerated, his time for filing a petition will have elapsed. See Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.2(c). Thus, he is deprived of a postconviction remedy. This appears to be fundamentally unfair. This problem, of course, does not affect Bohanan. But it suggests that it may well be time for this court to revisit Rule 37, bearing this problem in mind.