Manning v. Norris

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A jury found Appellant Jesse Manning guilty of delivery of cocaine and sentenced him as a habitual offender to forty years' incarceration. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for declaratory judgment and a writ of mandamus, requesting that the circuit court declare that, despite his convictions for at least eight felonies, he was only a third-time offender and was eligible for parole. Appellant also asked the circuit court to issue a writ of mandamus to the Department of Correction ordering officials to treat him as being eligible for parole. The circuit court dismissed the petition. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant's claims regarding his sentence and parole eligibility under the circumstances here were direct challenges to the judgment of conviction and were not cognizable in a suit for declaratory judgment and writ of mandamus.