09-2433 DAVID I. EPPS, v. WALTER A. MCNEIL, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

State: Florida

Court: Florida First District Court

Docket No: 09-2433

Case Date: 06/09/2010

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA DAVID I. EPPS, Appellant, v. WALTER A. MCNEIL, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed June 9, 2010. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Union County. Frederick D. Smith, Judge. David I. Epps, pro se, Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Anne C. Conley, Assist Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CASE NO. 1D09-2433

PER CURIAM. Appellant argues that his sentence is illegal and, accordingly, that his petition for writ of habeas corpus must be granted to correct a manifest injustice. Because the petition was not filed in the sentencing court, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to address his claim on the merits. See Crockett v. Singletary, 723 So.

2d 911, 912 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of Appellant's petition for writ of habeas corpus, which was without prejudice to his right to seek relief in the sentencing court. See Zuluaga v. State, Department of Corrections, 35 Fla. L. Weekly D676 (Fla. 1st DCA March 25, 2010) (affirming the dismissal of a petition for writ of habeas corpus where the petitioner challenged the legality of his sentence and the circuit court's dismissal was without prejudice to the petitioner's right to seek proper relief in the sentencing court); cf. Davis v. State, 26 So. 3d 647, 650 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (reversing and remanding for transfer where the circuit court denied an apparently meritorious petition for writ of habeas corpus without indicating that it could be re-filed in the appropriate court). AFFIRMED. WEBSTER, LEWIS, and ROBERTS, JJ., CONCUR.

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