Opinion
2011-09-22
The PEOPLE of the State of New York ex rel. Junior COLLINS, Appellant,v.J.F. BILLNIER, as Superintendent of Upstate Correctional Facility, Respondent.
Junior Collins, Auburn, appellant pro se.
Appeal (transferred to this Court by order of the Court of Appeals) from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Feldstein, J.), entered August 24, 2009 in Franklin County, which denied petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 70, without a hearing.
In 2009, petitioner, an inmate, made application for a writ of habeas corpus seeking release from prison, claiming that his detention is illegal because the penal statute under which he was convicted ( People v. Collins, 287 A.D.2d 271, 730 N.Y.S.2d 511 [2001] ) is unconstitutional. Supreme Court denied the application without a hearing. Petitioner's appeal from that denial was originally filed in the Court of Appeals and then transferred to this Court.
We affirm. Notably, “habeas corpus relief is not an appropriate remedy for resolving claims that could have been ... raised on direct appeal or in a postconviction motion” ( People ex rel. Lainfiesta v. Lape, 83 A.D.3d 1303, 1303, 922 N.Y.S.2d 591 [2011], lv. denied 17 N.Y.3d 708, 2011 WL 4030045 [Sept. 13, 2011] ). Inasmuch as petitioner's constitutional argument could have been raised in his direct appeal ( People v. Collins, 287 A.D.2d at 271–272, 730 N.Y.S.2d 511) or federal habeas corpus application ( Collins v. Artus, 496 F.Supp.2d 305 [2007] ) and was not, habeas corpus relief is unavailable. Moreover, given the absence of “extraordinary circumstances warranting a departure from traditional orderly procedure” ( People ex rel. Ragland v. Bellnier, 83 A.D.3d 1351, 1352, 920 N.Y.S.2d 919 [2011], lv. denied 17 N.Y.3d 706, 2011 WL 2567785 [2011] ), we find no basis to disturb Supreme Court's denial of petitioner's application.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.
PETERS, J.P., SPAIN, LAHTINEN, STEIN and EGAN JR., JJ., concur.