Torian Benson a.k.a. Marcus Terry a.k.a. Marcus Benson v. State of Tennessee

This case comes before us on petitions for habeas corpus relief. Although several arguments are
raised on appeal, the dispositive issue presented is whether the petitioner is “imprisoned or restrained of liberty” by the challenged judgments and thus eligible to seek habeas corpus relief, when the petitioner’s sentences expired prior to filing for relief. We hold that he is not. The petitioner was convicted of numerous criminal offenses from 1986 to 1993. In 2002, the petitioner filed three pro se habeas corpus petitions challenging the validity of these convictions. The trial court dismissed the petitions. Upon appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals, the dismissal of the petitions was affirmed. In addition to affirming the trial court’s initial findings, the intermediate court also held that the petitioner was ineligible for habeas corpus relief because he was currently incarcerated on unrelated charges and thus had no standing to claim he was being illegally restrained by the challenged convictions. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Applying the rule recently announced in Hickman v. State, — S.W.3d — (Tenn. 2004), we hold that the petitioner is not currently "imprisoned or restrained of liberty" by the challenged convictions because they expired prior to his filing for relief; therefore, he is not entitled to habeas corpus relief.