Personal Restraint Petition--Generally

RAP 16.3 PERSONAL RESTRAINT PETITION—GENERALLY (a) Procedure for Relief from Restraint. Rules 16.3 through 16.15 and rules 16.24 through 16.27 establish a single procedure for proceedings in the appellate court to obtain relief from restraint. (b) Former Procedure Superseded. The procedure established by rules 16.3 through 16.15 and rules 16.24 through 16.27 for a personal restraint petition supersedes the appellate procedure formerly available for a petition for writ of habeas corpus and for an application for postconviction relief, unless one of these rules specifically indicates to the contrary. These rules do not supersede and do not apply to habeas corpus proceedings initiated in the superior court. (c) Jurisdiction. The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have original concurrent jurisdiction in personal restraint petition proceedings in which the death penalty has not been decreed. The Supreme Court will ordinarily exercise its jurisdiction by transferring the petition to the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction in personal restraint proceedings in which the petitioner is under a sentence of death. RCW 7.36, Habeas Corpus. References [Adopted effective July 1, 1976; Amended effective December 30, 1997; September 1, 2014.]