State v. Mitchell

The petitioner, Oronde Kenyatt Mitchell, filed a petition for a writ of prohibition/mandamus directing Judge Truman Hobbs of the Montgomery Circuit Court to dismiss the felony-murder charges against him. In June 2004, a Montgomery County grand jury indicted Mitchell for felony murder.1 The predicate felony named in *1095the indictment was the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. Mitchell moved to dismiss the felony-murder charge because, he argued, the underlying felony was not “clearly dangerous to human life.” The circuit court denied the motion; this extraordinary petition followed.

I…