Justice April Newbauer
Inmate Kharmtsov filed a writ of habeas corpus alleging he was being illegally detained as the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) failed to exercise due diligence in issuing and executing a parole violation warrant against him. A threshold issue was if the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies precluded Kharmtsov's filing of a writ in advance of final revocation hearing and any appeal. The First Department held a court must dismiss a habeas corpus petition where petitioner failed to exhaust administrative remedies when the error petitioner claimed were committed could have been remedied by an administrative appeal. Kharmtsov challenged the timing of actions giving rise to his detention. The court noted there was no statutory or regulatory period within which a parole warrant must be lodged and executed after DOCCS learned of a new arrest or parole violation. It concluded Kharmtsov was not denied due process by the delay between his new arrest on Nov. 11, 2012, and the execution of the warrant on Feb. 8, 2013. The court ruled the three month period was not excessive as DOCCS was afforded a reasonable opportunity to investigate new criminal charges, denying the writ.
