Opinion
No. 632, 2002
Submitted: December 2, 2002
Decided: December 12, 2002
Mandamus dismissed.
Unpublished opinion is below.
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF RICHARD PEREZ FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS No. 632, 2002 In the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware. Submitted: December 2, 2002 Decided: December 12, 2002
Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, BERGER, and STEELE, Justices.
Myron T. Steele, Justice
ORDER
This 12th day of December 2002, upon consideration of the petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Richard Perez and the answer and motion to dismiss filed by the State of Delaware, it appears to the Court that:
(1) Perez has applied to this Court for a writ of mandamus directed to correctional officials compelling them to recalculate his sentence. The State has filed a motion to dismiss Perez's petition. We conclude that the petition manifestly fails on its face to invoke the original jurisdiction of this Court and must be dismissed.
(2) This Court's original jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus is limited to instances when the respondent is a court or a judge thereof. We do not have original jurisdiction to issue a writ to the Department of Corrections.
DEL. CONST. art. IV, § 11( 6); In re Hitchens, 600 A.2d 37, 38 (Del. 1991).
Accordingly, Perez's petition must be dismissed on this ground.
(3) Furthermore, this Court has previously rejected the underlying substantive issue that Perez raises in his petition. That ruling is the law of the case and cannot be relitigated through the writ process.
Perez v. State, 2002 WL 549401 (Del.Supr.).
Evans v. State, Del. Supr., No. 588, 2001, Berger, J. (Feb. 19, 2002).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the State's motion to dismiss is GRANTED. The petition for a writ of mandamus is DISMISSED.