Curtis v. Chester, No. 09-3338

Parole-Related Habeas Petition

In Curtis v. Chester, No. 09-3338, a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. section 2241 challenging the U.S. Parole Commission's decision to revoke his parole and set an above-guidelines reconsideration date of 15 years, the court affirmed the denial of the petition where 1) the police report regarding petitioner's offenses, the police officer's testimony, and petitioner's own testimony provided sufficient indicia of reliability under Kell to permit the admission of the victim's statements; and 2) the use of evidence of dismissed charges did not violate petitioner's rights, especially since the board needed only find a violation by a preponderance of the evidence.

As the court wrote:  "Bruce Alan Curtis, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a habeas
corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to challenge the United States Parole Commission's decision to revoke his parole and set an above-guidelines reconsideration date of 15 years.1 He argues the parole board violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront adverse witnesses and also engaged in impermissible "double counting" to arrive at the reconsideration date. The district court found these claims to be groundless and denied his petition."

Related Resources

• Read the Tenth Circuit's Decision in Curtis v. Chester, No. 09-3338