Inmate Eugene Howard’s challenge to his sentence will be heard, but in the proper jurisdiction of Leon County.
The Third District Court of Appeal of Florida has reversed a lower court’s decision to dismiss a petition filed by Eugene Howard, an inmate serving sentences for first-degree murder and robbery.
The court’s opinion, issued on Wednesday, determined that while the trial court correctly identified issues with the petition, it should have been transferred to a different jurisdiction rather than dismissed entirely.
The court’s decision centered on a matter of venue. Howard’s petition, which he filed himself, sought a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that a 1993 statute, section 775.082(1), Florida Statutes, entitled him to parole after serving twenty-five years.
However, the appellat