Elleby v. Smith
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:20-cv-05517
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Elleby v. Smith, Judge Engelmayer denied Taye L. Elleby’s second petition seeking release because he had not exhausted state remedies.
Taye L. Elleby, whose second petition was denied without prejudice for lack of exhaustion; the court closed the case.
What happened
In Elleby v. Smith, Taye L. Elleby, representing himself, asked for release from custody to home confinement because of the pandemic. This was his second petition seeking that relief.
Elleby said he had filed a state petition but had not received a decision. He also said he had sent a compassionate-release request to several officials and had not received a response. The court ruled that these steps did not complete the required state-court process.
Judge Engelmayer denied Elleby’s second petition without prejudice for lack of exhaustion and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Elleby v. Smith · No. 1:20-cv-05517
- Paul Engelmayer
- Aug. 7, 2020
Background
Taye L. Elleby filed this second petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 while representing himself. He sought release from custody to home confinement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The court had dismissed his first pandemic-related petition without prejudice because he had not exhausted his state remedies.
In this second petition, Elleby stated that he had filed a state habeas petition but had not yet received a decision. He also stated that he had sent a compassionate-release request to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, the New York District Attorney’s office, and the Superintendent of Greene Correctional Facility, without receiving a response.
Court’s Analysis
The court held that filing a state petition that was still pending did not satisfy the exhaustion requirement. State-court remedies remained available, and the court noted that New York State Supreme Court justices had heard and granted petitions involving COVID-19’s effects on confinement conditions. The court also held that Elleby’s desire for a faster state-court decision did not justify excusing exhaustion.
Ruling
Judge Engelmayer denied Elleby’s second petition, without prejudice, for lack of exhaustion. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motion at Docket 1 and close the case. The Clerk was also directed to mail Elleby a copy of the order and the opinion from the earlier round of this case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.