Opinion
OP 22-0469
09-20-2022
JOSEPH GOINS, Petitioner, v. COMMANDER JASON VALDEZ, Respondent.
ORDER
Joseph Goins petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, his second in two months arising from his present detention on criminal charges in Yellowstone County. Goins asserts that he has a misdemeanor offense, not a felony, and that "[t]hey are trumping up [his] charges." He faults the alleged victim, assorted accomplices, the Judge, and the Yellowstone County Detention Center (YCDC). He states that the YCDC has violated his civil rights and his attorney-client privilege by opening legal mail/document[s] prior to delivery . . Goins concludes that this situation has impeded justice and that he should be released.
Available electronic records indicate that Goins has two pending matters in the Yellowstone County District Court. The District Court sentenced him in May 2022, and Goins was charged with a new offense the following month. The court has set bond at $20,000. Goins has counsel to represent him. This Court denied Goins's petition for habeas corpus relief on related grounds last month. Goins v. State of Montana, No. OP 22-0410, Order (Mont. Aug. 16, 2022).
Similarly, Goins is not entitled to relief here. Goins has not demonstrated illegal restraint or incarceration, pursuant to § 46-22-101(1), MCA. See also Miller v. Eleventh Judicial District Ct., 2007 MT 58, ¶ 14, 336 Mont. 207, 154 P.3d 1186. Although excessive bail may be raised in a habeas petition under § 46-22-103, MCA, Goins has not met his burden; he was released from jail in 2021 and has not demonstrated that he 1 complied with the release order's conditions, the contrary appearing from the record of district court docket entries.
The cause of Goins's incarceration is his pending criminal charges. Section 46-22101(1), MCA. As stated previously, the issues arising from his current criminal charges will be reviewed by this Court only after any final judgment in his cases, not through a pretrial habeas corpus proceeding.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Goins' Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED and DISMISSED.
The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record; to Joseph Daniel Goins; and to Terry Halpin, Clerk of District Court, Yellowstone County, under Cause Nos. DC-21-1016 and DC-22-771, for distribution of copies to the presiding Judge and counsel of record in the Yellowstone County District Court. 2