Ramsey v. McQuiggan

Full title: SEAN RAMSEY, Petitioner, v. GREG MCQUIGGAN, Respondent.

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

Date published: Aug 25, 2016

Case No. 5:10-cv-14752 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 25, 2016)

Opinion

Case No. 5:10-cv-14752

08-25-2016

SEAN RAMSEY, Petitioner, v. GREG MCQUIGGAN, Respondent.

Hon. John Corbett O'Meara

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT [Dkt. 34]

This is a habeas corpus action brought by a state prisoner pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The Court denied the petition on February 11, 2014, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit declined to hear the case when it denied Petitioner a certificate of appealability. Ramsey v. McGuiggan, No. 14-1289 (6^th Cir. July 31, 2014).

Petitioner has filed a motion relief from judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4). In his motion, Petitioner claims that this Court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate his habeas petition because his conviction was the result of a void state court judgment.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) allows a court may relieve a party from a final judgment, order, or proceeding because the judgment is void. A judgment is considered void, for purposes of 60(b)(4), if the court that rendered the judgment lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter or over the parties, or if the court acted in a manner that was inconsistent with due process of law. Antoine v. Atlas Turner, Inc., 66 F. 3d 105, 108 (6th Cir. 1995)(quoting In Re Edwards, 962 F. 2d 641, 644 (7th Cir. 1992)).

Even assuming that Petitioner's state court judgment was somehow void, that fact did not deprive this Court of subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate his habeas petition. Whether the underlying judgment is void or not, this Court had jurisdiction over the habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. §2254 because Petitioner is in State custody pursuant to a judgment of conviction of a state court. See §2254(a). Petitioner's motion for relief from judgment is therefore denied.

Based on the foregoing, the Court DENIES Petitioner's motion for relief from judgment.

SO ORDERED.

s/John Corbett O'Meara

United States District Judge Date: August 25, 2016

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties of record on this date, August 25, 2016, using the ECF system and/or ordinary mail.

s/William Barkholz

Case Manager