Changed Sentence Negates Prerequisite for Second Habeas Petition

A inmate who was convicted of murder as a juvenile may bring a second habeas corpus challenge to this conviction without first obtaining court permission, the First Circuit held Tuesday.

An intervening US Supreme Court opinion in another case required Joseph Donovan’s sentence to be changed, removing the prerequisite for his second petition under the federal habeas statute, Judge Lara E. Montecalvo wrote for the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

His second petition isn’t a “second or successive” habeas application for purposes of 28 U.S.C. §2244(b), she said.

Donovan was 17 when he and two friends committed ...