Opinions of the United
2005 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
7-12-2005
Hinton v. Miner
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 04-1760
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Recommended Citation
"Hinton v. Miner" (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 872.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005/872
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 04-1760
________________
HAYWOOD HINTON,
Appellant
v.
JONATHAN C. MINER
____________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civ. No. 03-cv-03051)
District Judge: Honorable Jerome B. Simandle
_______________________________________
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
July 1, 2005
Before: SLOVITER, BARRY AND FISHER, CIRCUIT JUDGES.
(Filed: July 12, 2005)
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM.
In 2003, Haywood Hinton, then serving a 60-month custodial term on a federal
bank fraud conviction, filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition for a writ of habeas corpus
challenging the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) computation of the time it credited toward
service of his sentence. Hinton claimed that the BOP failed to credit his sentence for the
entire period from November 28, 2001 through September 9, 2002. The District Court
rejected the habeas petition on the merits, finding that Hinton was properly credited for
the time in dispute. Hinton timely filed this appeal. Thereafter, Hinton finished serving
his custodial term; he is currently serving a five-year term of supervised release.
The appellee argues that the appeal has been rendered moot by Hinton’s release
from BOP custody. We agree. An Article III “case or controversy” must be present at all
stages of the litigation for a federal court to exercise judicial power. Lewis v. Cont’l
Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477-78 (1990). To maintain this appeal, Hinton must show
some “collateral consequence” of the alleged failure to properly calculate his custodial
term, and that his injury remains “likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.”
Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998). While Hinton might claim that the BOP’s
alleged miscalculation of his sentence has affected his supervised release term, any
additional credit toward the custodial portion of Hinton’s sentence would not shorten his
period of supervised release. See United States v. Johnson, 529 U.S. 53, 58-60 (2000)
(holding that length of supervised release term may not be reduced by undisputed excess
time spent in prison); DeFoy v. McCullough, 393 F.3d 439, 442 n.3 (3d Cir. 2005). Thus,
2
given Hinton’s release from custody and his failure to make a showing of collateral
consequences, we will dismiss his appeal as moot.1
1
Were we to reach the merits, we would affirm the denial of Hinton’s habeas
petition for the reasons expressed in the District Court’s comprehensive Opinion. The
record is clear that Hinton was properly credited – partly toward two state sentences and
the remainder toward his federal sentence – for the entire period from November 28, 2001
through September 9, 2002. In addition, insofar as Hinton seeks to raise a challenge to
the District Court’s 2001 order denying his pre-trial motion to suppress evidence in his
criminal case, that issue is not properly raised in this § 2441 proceeding.
3