May v. Horton

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedSeptember 21, 2020
Docket2:19-cv-11712
StatusUnknown

This text of May v. Horton (May v. Horton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
May v. Horton, (E.D. Mich. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

TRAVIS DURAND MAY,

Petitioner, CASE NO. 2:19-cv-11712 v. HONORABLE LINDA V. PARKER CONNIE HORTON,

Respondent, ___________________________/

OPINION AND ORDER (1) DENYING MOTION TO HOLD RESPONDENT IN CONTEMPT [ECF NO. 13]; (2) DENYING MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL [ECF NO. 14]; (3) DENYING EMERGENCY MOTION FOR BOND RELEASE [ECF NO. 16]; (4) DENYING COMPLAINT FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DENOUNCE INTERVENTION FROM THE STATE [ECF NO. 17]; (5) DENYING AMENDED HABEAS PETITION [ECF NO. 2]; (6) DECLINING TO ISSUE CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY; AND (7) DENYING LEAVE TO APPEAL IN FORMA PAUPERIS

Petitioner Travis Durand May, a state prisoner at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, has filed a pro se habeas corpus action under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (ECF No. 2.) He is serving sentences for two plea-based convictions of larceny from a person, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.357 (sentenced in 1999 and 2011), unarmed robbery, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.530 (sentenced in 1990), and larceny from a motor vehicle, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.356a (sentenced in 1991).1

1 See https://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=212304. In his habeas petition, Petitioner challenges the revocation of his parole in 2017, as well as an unrelated 2017 conviction for larceny from a person.

Respondent Connie Horton urges the Court to deny the petition because Petitioner’s claims are unexhausted, procedurally defaulted, not cognizable on habeas review, or without merit. Respondent also contends that Petitioner is not in

custody for the 2017 conviction under attack. The Court agrees that Petitioner’s claims do not warrant granting the writ of habeas corpus. Accordingly, the petition will be denied. Petitioner’s Emergency Motion for Bond Release (ECF No. 16) and Complaint for Attorney General to Denounce

Intervention from the State (ECF No. 17) will be denied as moot. Moreover, Petitioner’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel (ECF No. 14) and Motion to Hold Respondent in Contempt will also be denied.

BACKGROUND On August 12, 2016, while Petitioner was on parole, he forcibly took money, a wallet, and keys from an acquaintance at the person’s home in Detroit, Michigan. (See ECF No. 12-20 at Pg. ID 1007-08.) Petitioner was promptly

arrested and charged with unarmed robbery and aggravated assault. (See id. at Pg. ID 1009.) At his preliminary examination, the assault charge was reduced to misdemeanor domestic violence. (See ECF No. 12-5 at Pg. ID 536.) On February 24, 2017, Petitioner pleaded nolo contendere to one count of larceny from a person. (ECF No. 12-14 at Pg. ID 646.) In return, the robbery and

domestic-violence charges and a fourth habitual offender notice were dismissed. (See ECF No. 12-19 at Pg. ID 748.) There was also an agreement that Petitioner would receive probation with the first six months served in jail. (ECF No. 12-15 at

Pg. ID 656.) On March 30, the trial court sentenced Petitioner to two years of probation with the first six months to be served in the Wayne County Jail. (ECF No. 12-19 at Pg. ID 748.) On July 17, the Wayne County Sheriff released Petitioner. (See ECF

No. 12-20 at Pg. ID 947.) On September 24, Petitioner filed a delayed application for leave to appeal his sentence. (ECF No. 12-18.) He argued through counsel that the trial court had

abused its discretion by ordering him at sentencing to complete treatment for domestic violence. (Id. at Pg. ID 699.) Petitioner also attempted to file a pro se brief in which he challenged the trial court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. The Michigan Court of Appeals returned the pro se brief without filing it and denied

leave to appeal for lack of merit in the claim presented to the court. See People v. May, No. 340295 (Mich. Ct. App. Nov. 27, 2017). On appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, Petitioner challenged the lower

court’s rejection of his pro se appellate brief. (ECF No. 12-19.) On September 28, 2018, the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal because it was not persuaded to review the questions presented to it. See People v. May, 917 N.W.2d

628 (Mich. 2018). While Petitioner’s criminal case was progressing through the state courts, the Michigan Parole Board charged Petitioner with violating ten conditions of

parole. (ECF No. 12-20 at Pg. ID 1006-07.) On August 22, 2017, the Michigan Parole Board held a fact-finding hearing, and Petitioner pleaded guilty to violating three conditions of parole. (See ECF No. 2 at Pg. ID 41.) The Parole Board also found Petitioner guilty of violating parole due to his 2017 conviction for larceny

from a person. (See ECF No. 12-20 at Pg. ID 996, 1011.) The other six charges were dismissed, and on September 14, the Michigan Parole Board revoked Petitioner’s parole and reinstated the sentences that Petitioner had been serving

before his release on parole in 2016. (See id. at Pg. ID 996, 1002.) Petitioner challenged the Parole Board’s decision in a state complaint for the writ of mandamus. (See id.) The Muskegon County Circuit Court dismissed Petitioner’s complaint in a reasoned opinion. See May v. Michigan Dep’t of Corr.,

No. 17-006496-AW (Muskegon Cty. Cir. Ct. May 2, 2018), (ECF No. 12-17). In an appeal from the circuit court’s decision on the mandamus complaint, Petitioner phrased the issue as whether his complaint for the writ of mandamus was

the proper way to address an untimely parole revocation hearing. (ECF No. 12-20 at Pg. ID 1032-47.) The Michigan Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal for lack of merit in the ground presented to the court. See May v. Dep’t of Corr., No.

344113 (Mich. Ct. App. Nov. 27, 2018). Petitioner did not appeal that decision to the Michigan Supreme Court. Petitioner was discharged from his sentence for the 2017 larceny conviction on March 29, 2019,2 and he commenced this case on June 7 by filing an initial

habeas corpus petition. (ECF No. 1.) On June 10, he filed his amended petition. (ECF No. 2.) The amended petition challenges both the parole revocation proceedings and the 2017 conviction for larceny from a person. Petitioner alleges

that he is unlawfully imprisoned due to jurisdictional defects in the state circuit court proceedings and in the parole-revocation proceedings. (Id. at Pg. ID 47-48.) Respondent argues that Petitioner’s claim about the revocation of parole is

unexhausted or procedurally defaulted because Petitioner did not present the claim to the Michigan Supreme Court. (See ECF No. 11 at Pg. ID 455-60.) As for Petitioner’s challenge to his 2017 conviction, Respondent argues that this Court has no jurisdiction because Petitioner was discharged from that conviction before

he filed his habeas petition. (Id. at Pg. ID 464-66.) Respondent also asserts that the jurisdictional claim is not cognizable on habeas review, is procedurally defaulted, and lacks merit. (Id. at Pg. ID 467-77.)

2 See https://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=212304. A procedural default ordinarily is not a jurisdictional matter. Johnson v. Lee, 136 S. Ct. 1802, 1806 (2016) (quoting Trest v. Cain, 522 U.S. 87, 89 (1997)).

A court may bypass a procedural-default question if the claim is easily resolvable against the habeas petitioner. Lambrix v. Singletary, 520 U.S. 518, 525 (1997). The exhaustion rule also is not a jurisdictional requirement. Castille v. Peoples,

489 U.S. 346, 349 (1989).

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Bluebook (online)
May v. Horton, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/may-v-horton-mied-2020.