| Archuleta v. Hedrick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |
| Full case name | Benjamin Archuleta v. Bill Hedrick, Warden; United States of America |
| Argued | November 18, 2003 |
| Decided | April 23, 2004 |
| Citation | 365 F.3d 644 (8th Cir. 2004) |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | James B. Loken, Theodore McMillian, C. Arlen Beam |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Loken, joined by McMillian, Beam |
| Laws applied | |
| Eighth Amendment | |
Archuleta v. Hedrick, 365 F.3d 644 (8th Cir. 2004)[1] was a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in October 2002, appealing the dismissal of a case brought by defendant Benjamin Archuleta. Archuleta had been found not guilty by reason of insanity of assault and subsequently ordered to be confined in a prison mental hospital by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri after his successful insanity defense, as he was evaluated by a psychiatrist as dangerous. His appeal challenged this confinement and "forced treatment", requested a withdrawal of his original insanity defense, and sought his unconditional release from custody.[2]
The appellate court reversed the lower court's dismissal of the habeas corpus petition, saying that habeas corpus is a last resort remedy available to those without any other, and the case was remanded back to that court with the instructions to transfer the petition to another district court, the United States District Court for the District of Utah.[3]
- ^ Archuleta v. Hedrick, 365 F.3d 644 (8th Cir. 2004).
- ^ Nwokike, Jerome. "Federal Insanity Acquittees". Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. 33 (1). www.jaapl.org: 126. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
findacasewas invoked but never defined (see the help page).