how does my Dad write a habeus corpus paper to get out of jail and who does he send it to?

Answer 1

This is a VERY DIFFICULT question dependent largely on state law, because failure to exercise state remedies can prevent future claims under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

It also depends upon whether he was convicted in federal court (in which case he would file a 2255 petition in federal court) or in state court (in which case he MUST exhaust any state collateral attack proceedings before filing in federal court). He needs to talk to the jailhouse librarian, or lawyer if there's one there. There are usually forms available to help convicts.
See, e.g.
http://www.facts1.com/ThreeStrikes/Habeas/

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm00741.htm

Good luck to you and your dad.

Answer 2

First, you need to make sure that your timing is right. Timing is your biggest challenge, so make sure that he is filing on time, becasue late is a big problem that you may not be able to correct.

Has he appealed his case from the initial conviction and sentencing? That would be the stage where he asserts (through counsel preferrably, if his trial counsel won't do it, try to get a new lawyer..you are constitutionally entitled to a lawyer for the direct appeal) that the court shoudl have allwed some evidence to come in that didn't, that it let the prosecution bring in evidence that should not have come in and that evidence influenced the jury inappropriatly, that the prosecutor failed to follow the rules, etc.

If he has done the direct appeal, before doing an hc petition, he next needs to contact prisioner legal services to get a post-conviction attorney. You are not constitutionally entitled for a lawyer at this stage, so your dad may be on his own. So areas will work out a lawyer for you. That attorney would evaluate whether: the trial attorney did his or her job right, the prosecutor disclosed everything it had and that it did so on time, the prosecutor acted appropriatly in selecting the jury, etc. It is important to get the appellate process right at this stage becasue under current law, if you miss something, you might as well consider yourself done.

If all of that is done, try going to the federal district court for your area and that site will probably have a form that you can use for an hc petition. You need to make sure that you tell the state court EVERYTHING that was wring with the trial or you will have a problem at the federal court. At the federal court, make sure you tell them EVERYTHING you told the state court. IF you forgot something at the state court, don't just think you can tell the federal court and it will be ok...go back and tell the state court the problem you left out and tell them WHY you left it out or came to know about it after-the-fact.

This stuff is VERY Technical, so try to make sure you are using a lawyer as much of the time as you can. Tell you dad that once he gets a lawyer, DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT, UNLESS THE ATTORNEY IS A PROBLEM. You can also consider contacting local law schools to see if they have clinics that do this kind of work. Legal aid is also an option.

Good luck

Answer 3

The writ of habeas corpus is a collateral challenge to being held in jail. In standard criminal matters, it challenges the manner in which the trial was held or whether the sentence was valid.

It's a complex legal challenge, and not something that can easily be handled by someone who doesn't have extensive legal knowledge and training.

Unlike a trial, where you are arguing the facts, a challenge like this deals with complex procedural rules, which is why appellate law is its own speciality.

He needs a good attorney. If he has strong actual evidence that he is not guilty, then there are non-profit agencies (like the Innocense Project) that may be willing to donate time.