Moore v. Executive Director of Colorado Department of Corrections

          Logan County District Court No. 17CV12 Honorable Kevin L. Hoyer, Judge.

          L. R. Moore, Pro Se

          Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Kathryn A. Starnella, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees

          OPINION

          ASHBY, JUDGE.

         ¶ 1 The primary issue raised in this appeal is whether C.R.C.P. 106.5 provides prison inmates with a means to obtain judicial review of decisions by the Colorado State Board of Parole (parole board). Plaintiff, L. R. Moore, an inmate in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC), appeals the district court's judgment dismissing his action seeking C.R.C.P. 106.5 review of a parole board decision deferring his parole.

         ¶ 2 We conclude that C.R.C.P. 106.5 is not a mechanism for obtaining judicial review of parole board decisions. For that reason and others, we affirm the judgment dismissing Moore's action.

         I. Background

         ¶ 3 Moore filed a "Rule 106.5 Petition" against defendants, the DOC's executive director and the warden of the prison facility where Moore is housed. In that petition, and in a later-filed "complaint," Moore said that he was challenging a March 2017 parole board decision to defer his parole. He alleged that in making the decision, the parole board abused its discretion in a number of ways.

         ¶ 4 Defendants moved to dismiss the action, arguing that (1) the district court lacked jurisdiction to review the parole board's discretionary parole decision and (2) defendants were not the proper parties to an action challenging the decision.

         ¶ 5 In various responsive motions, Moore argued that he was entitled to challenge the parole board's decision under C.R.C.P. 106.5. He further argued that the case authority defendants relied on in their motion to dismiss was "irrelevant" because the cases were all decided before the promulgation of C.R.C.P. 106.5.

         ¶ 6 The district court ultimately granted defendants' motion and dismissed the case.

         II. Discussion

         ¶ 7 Moore contends that the district court erred in dismissing the action. He continues to argue that he is entitled to judicial review of the parole board's decision under C.R.C.P. 106.5, and that the legal authority supporting defendants' dismissal motion is no longer valid because it predates the promulgation of ...