Court Opinion

ID: 9896346
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-09 21:09:45.09987+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:42.936542
License: Public Domain

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

                          STATE OF LOUISIANA

                            COURT OF APPEAL

                              FIRST CIRCUIT

                        2023 CW 0524 & 2023 CA 0598

                        DONALD RUNNELS, PRO SE

                                 VERSUS

          OUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY &
                   CORRECTIONS, JAMES LEBLANC

                            DATE OF JUDGME'NT.-          NOV 0 9 2023

    ON REVIEW FROM THE NINETEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
         PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, STATE OF LOUISIANA
                         NUMBER 716928, SECTION 22

                 HONORABLE BEAU HIGGINBOTHAM, JUDGE

Donald Runnels                           Plaintiff A
                                                   - ppellant
Waterproof, Louisiana                    In Proper Person

Robb Rochester                           Counsel for Defendant -Appellee
Baton Rouge, Louisiana                   James M. LeBlanc, Secretary of
                                         Louisiana Department of Public Safety
                                               Corrections

              BEFORE: GUIDRY, CJ, CHUTZ, AND LANIER, JJ.

Disposition: WRIT DENIED; JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
Chutz, J.

       Donald Runnels, an inmate in the custody of the Louisiana Department of

Public Safety and Corrections ( DPSC), appeals a district court judgment dismissing

his application for a writ of habeas corpus with prejudice. We affirm.

                      FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

       Runnels was convicted of simple burglary, a violation of La. R.S. 14: 62, and

subsequently adjudicated a second -offense habitual offender and sentenced to fifteen

years at hard labor without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. Runnels

appealed, and his conviction was affirmed in State v. Runnels, 12- 167 ( La. App. 3d

Cir. 11/ 7/ 12), 101 So. 3d 1046, writ denied, 13- 0498 ( La. 7/ 31/ 13), 118 So. 3d 1121.

Further, after being fully litigated, his application for post -conviction relief was

denied. State e_r rel. Runners v. State, 15- 0466, ( La. 1/ 8/ 16), 182 So.3d 952 ( per

curiam).    On March 18, 2022, Runnels filed an application for a writ of habeas

corpus pursuant to La. C. Cr.P. arts. 352- 353 in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court

 19th JDC).    In the application, Runnels asserted his conviction and sentence are

invalid because he was not advised of his rights before his habitual offender

adjudication, including the right to remain silent.

       On March 28, 2022, the 19th JDC Commissioner assigned to this matter

signed a service order directing DPSC to show cause within 30 days why habeas

relief should not be granted to Runnels.       Subsequently, DPSC filed an exception of

lack   of   subject    matter   jurisdiction   based   on   Runnels'       failure   to   exhaust

administrative    remedies.        The    Commissioner       issued    a     screening     report

recommending Runnels' application be dismissed without prejudice due to his

failure to exhaust administrative remedies.        Subsequently, the Commissioner issued

an amended screening report wherein she determined the district court lacked subject

matter jurisdiction to hear Runnels' complaint because his application was " actually

a post -conviction complaint filed in the guise of a habeas complaint."                      The

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Commissioner noted Runnels' application challenged the validity of his conviction

and sentence rather than DPSC' s authority for his custody.                       Accordingly, the

Commissioner recommended Runnels' application be dismissed with prejudice. In

accordance with the amended screening report, the district court signed a judgment

on January 18, 2023, dismissing Runnels' application for a writ of habeas corpus

with prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Runnels now appeals.'

                                          DISCUSSION

       Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 351 provides:

        Habeas corpus is a writ commanding a person who has another in his
        custody to produce him before the court and to state the authority for
       the custody.

         Custody" as used in this Title means detention or confinement as a
        result   of   or   incidental    to   an   instituted    or   anticipated    criminal

        proceeding.

        The provisions of this Title are not available to persons entitled to file
        an application for post conviction relief under [ La. CCr,P. art. 924 et
        seq.]. [ Emphasis added.]

According to Comment (c) to Article 351, habeas corpus is not the proper procedural

vehicle for petitioners who may file an application for post -conviction relief, since

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habeas corpus essentially deals with pre -conviction complaints concerning custody.

This court has consistently held habeas corpus is not available to contest the validity

of a conviction or to have a sentence set aside. See Scott v. Louisiana Department

1 Runnels also filed an application for supervisory writ seeking review of the district court' s
January 18, 2023 judgment. On August 28, 2023, this court referred the writ application to the
panel handling the instant appeal from that judgment. See Runnels v. Department ofPublic Safety
and Corrections, 23- 0524 ( La. App. 1 st Cir. 8128123) ( unpublished). The issues presented in the
writ application and on appeal are the same.

2 We note Runnels asserted in his application that he is no longer entitled to file for post -conviction
relief In denying Runnels' application for post -conviction relief, the Louisiana Supreme Court
noted his claims had been fully litigated in state court. The Supreme Court further observed
Runnels had, therefore, exhausted his right to state collateral review unless he could show that one
of the narrow exceptions authorizing the filing of a successive application applies.      State ex reL
Runnels, 182 So. 3d at 952. Under such limited circumstances, Runnels would be entitled to file
an application for post -conviction relief See State ex rel. Runnels, 182 So. 3d at 952; Scott, 2019
WL 2334919, at * I n. 1.
ofPublic Safety c& Corrections, 18- 1705 ( La. App. 1 st Cir. 613119),     So. 3d ,

2019 WL 2334919, at * 1, and cases cited therein. Rather, such claims are considered

requests for post -conviction relief. An application for post -conviction relief is a

petition filed by a person in custody after sentence following conviction for the

commission of an offense seeking to have the conviction and sentence set aside. La.

C. Cr.P. art. 924( 1).

       In this case, Runnels was convicted of simple burglary, adjudicated a habitual

offender, and sentenced. He now seeks to have his conviction and sentence set aside.

Because all the claims in his application relate to the validity of his conviction and

sentence, his application is a request for post -conviction relief and is not a writ of

habeas corpus, even though he has labeled it as such. See Eames v. State, 13- 0022

La. App. 1 st Cir. 3127114), 201.4 WL 1266360, at * 2 ( a petitioner " cannot make post

conviction relief claims and call them ` habeas corpus' claims").    Accordingly, we

find no error in the judgment of the district court dismissing Runnels' application

for a writ of habeas corpus with prejudice.    See Scott, 2019 WL 2334919, at * 2;

Eames, 2014 WL 1266360, at * 3

                                  CONCLUSION

        For these reasons, we affirm the January 18, 2023 judgment of the district

court and deny Runnel' s application for a supervisory writ from that judgment. All

costs of this appeal are assessed to appellant, Donald Runnels.

        WRIT DENIED; DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.

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