UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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ALAN COLTER, )
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Petitioner, )
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v. ) Civil Action No. 09-0406 (ESH)
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
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Respondent. )
____________________________________)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. For the reasons
set forth below, the Court will dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Petitioner, who is proceeding pro se, was indicted in the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia and is currently being held in the District’s Correctional Treatment Facility while he
awaits trial. He raises a number of challenges to his detention and to the proceedings in that
court, including lack of probable cause, illegal arrest and search and seizure of his property in
violation of the Fourth Amendment, reliance on invalid arrest warrants based on falsified police
statements, bias and abuse of discretion by Superior Court judges, prosecutorial misconduct,
insufficient evidence, violation of his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel
and denial of due process.
In effect, petitioner is seeking review of an ongoing criminal proceeding in Superior
Court. This Court, however, lacks subject matter jurisdiction to review the actions or rulings of
other courts. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332 (general jurisdictional provisions); Fleming v. United
States, 847 F. Supp. 170, 172 (D.D.C. 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1150 (1995). Moreover, the
Court’s mandamus authority extends only to “officer[s] or employee[s] of the United States or
any agency thereof . . . .” 28 U.S.C. § 1361. Therefore, jurisdiction to compel the Superior
Court to dismiss plaintiff’s criminal case is also lacking. For these reasons, petitioner’s
application for a writ of habeas corpus is denied. A separate Order of dismissal accompanies
this Memorandum Opinion.
/s/
ELLEN SEGAL HUVELLE
United States District Judge
Date: March 10, 2008
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