Smith v. State

Appellant challenges the lower court’s order denying his petition for writ of habe-as corpus. He contends that the. trial court improperly dismissed the petition on procedural grounds without addressing the merits. We agree with Appellant and reverse.

Appellant was charged with second-degree murder in an information filed by the statewide prosecutor. In his petition for habeas corpus, Appellant challenged the jurisdiction of the statewide prosecutor, and thus, the jurisdiction of the trial court to adjudicate the charges. The trial court did not reach the merits of the petition, concluding…