Grass v. Reitz, No. 10-1981 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect when he was charged with first degree murder for stabbing his wife in 1992 and was committed to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Defendant subsequently appealed the district court's dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 petition for failure to exhaust his state remedies. The court held that because defendant pursued his Foucha v. Louisiana due process challenge to the denial of unconditional release through "one complete round of the State's established appellate review process," he properly exhausted that claim. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's dismissal of defendant's section 2254 petition and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Prisoner case - habeas. District court erred in finding prisoner had not exhausted his state remedies and the matter is reversed and remanded for further proceedings; prisoner pursued his Foucha due-process challenge to the denial of unconditional release through one complete round of the State's established appellate review process and thus exhausted the claim. Judge Colloton, concurring in the judgment.
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