Well friends, Sid Harr is at it again. Now he has filed, so he says, a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of Crystal Gayle Mangum. Readers will recall that Crystal is the infamous false accuser of the lacrosse fiasco and more recently was convicted of killing the man she lived with, Reginal Daye.
North Carolina provides for the remedy of Habeas Corpus in our constitution (Const. art. 1 s. 21) and in statute NCGS §§ 17-1 and 17-2. § 17-3 provides: "Every person imprisoned or restrained of his liberty within this State, for any criminal or supposed criminal matter, or on any pretense whatsoever, except in cases specified in G.S. 17-4, may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus, according to the provisions of this Chapter, to inquire into the cause of such imprisonment or restraint, and, if illegal, to be delivered therefrom."
There are a couple of problems for Sid and Crystal, NCGS § 17-4 provides: When application denied. Application to prosecute the writ shall be denied in the following cases:... (2) Where persons are committed or detained by virtue of the final order, judgment or decree of a competent tribunal of civil or criminal jurisdiction, or by virtue of an execution issued upon such final order, judgment or decree."
In other words, the North Carolina Writ of Habeas Corpus does not apply after a person is convicted. Oops. Again, Sid fails to do his legal research before he filed something.
Sid's next problem is, he is subject to an order from the Wake Superior Court to refrain from practicing law. Accroding to NCGS § 17-5, "Application for the writ may be made either by the party for whose relief it is intended or by any person in his behalf." According to the unsigned petition Sid posted at: Sid is making the application on behalf of Crystal. Under our law, that constitutes the practice of law and thus, a violation of the Wake Superior Court's previous order.
Once again, Sid does his best to show us why it pays to have a real lawyer do legal work. But, with friends like Sid, Crystal doesn't need any enemies.
Walt-in-Durham
