United States ex rel. Tyler v. Hall, 78-19C(B).

Citation444 F. Supp. 104
Decision Date12 January 1978
Docket NumberNo. 78-19C(B).,78-19C(B).
PartiesUNITED STATES of America ex rel. Melvin Leroy TYLER, Petitioner, v. Warden HALL, St. Louis City Jail, etc., Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

Melvin Leroy Tyler, pro se.

John D. Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., for respondent.

MEMORANDUM

REGAN, District Judge.

In accordance with the practice in this District, petitioner was granted leave to file in forma pauperis his pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We now examine the petition to determine whether petitioner should be permitted to further prosecute the action in forma pauperis.

Petitioner purports to invoke our jurisdiction pursuant to Section 2254, 28 U.S.C. However, this statute has application only to habeas applications by persons attacking a State court judgment pursuant to which they are in custody. In the instant case, petitioner has not yet been tried or convicted. We have jurisdiction, if at all, only under Section 2241(c)(3), 28 U.S.C.

Petitioner alleges that he is in the custody of the warden of the St. Louis City jail awaiting trial on two charges of robbery and two charges of assault; that he is acting as attorney pro se; that he filed several pretrial motions; and that some of the motions were denied. It is his contention that the denial of these motions constitutes a denial of due process and the equal protection of the laws. Among such motions were applications for a change of venue, for the aid of an investigator, for a "voice exemplar" of a state's witness (to prove the witness is the same person as the one on a tape recording of a conversation), for an expert dermatologist (to prove that since petitioner was convicted of an offense committed at 2 P.M. by a person with no marks on his face, it was not medically possible for him to be the person with multiple scratches on his face who committed the offenses in question at 10 A.M. that same day); and for a psychiatric evaluation of a state's witness.

With respect to the application for a change of venue (apparently based on adverse publicity in newspaper articles and television appearances) and possibly some of the other motions, it appears that petitioner unsuccessfully sought a writ of mandamus from the Missouri Court of Appeals, St. Louis District and the Missouri Supreme Court. Petitioner alleges that the respondent judge of the circuit court of St. Louis refused to transmit six of petitioner's exhibits to the appellate courts (and that appellate courts would not order them transmitted) thereby denying petitioner a fair consideration. We are not advised as to the content of the six exhibits, although it would appear from the other allegations that they are part of a group of "over forty" exhibits petitioner offered on the motion for a change of venue.

The major theme of the petition is that the judges and prosecutors of St. Louis are conspiring against petitioner and that he wishes but will not be allowed to present his "conspiracy...

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3 cases
  • Davis v. Muellar
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • 3 Abril 1981
    ...F.2d 762, 766 (5th Cir. 1977); United States ex rel. Scranton v. New York, 532 F.2d 292, 295 (2d Cir. 1976); United States ex rel. Tyler v. Hall, 444 F.Supp. 104, 106 (E.D.Mo.1978). However, the rule of comity does not limit the power of the federal courts to dispense with the exhaustion re......
  • York v. Ward, 82 Civ. 1188.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • 3 Mayo 1982
    ...U. S. ex rel. Scranton v. New York, 532 F.2d 292 (2d Cir. 1976); Drury v. Cox, 457 F.2d 764 (9th Cir. 1972); U. S. ex rel. Tyler v. Hall, 444 F.Supp. 104 (E.D.Mo.1978); Theriault v. Lamb, 377 F.Supp. 186 (D.C. In Younger, a proceeding was pending in the State court which Harris successfully......
  • Davis v. Muellar, Civ. No. A2-79-218.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota
    • 27 Diciembre 1979
    ...g. Kolski v. Watkins, 544 F.2d 762, 766 (5th Cir. 1977); Scranton v. State of N.Y., 532 F.2d 292, 295 (2nd Cir. 1976); Tyler v. Hall, 444 F.Supp. 104, 106 (E.D.Mo.1978). This court will not interfere with the state judicial process and the pending criminal IT IS ORDERED that petitioner's re......

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