Personal Restraint Petition Of Muhammed Tillisy

1 printed pages contain little extracted OCR body text; searchable legal-body completeness has not been established for those pages.

OCR transcription for search; preserved printed pages are authoritative

FILED
7/19/2021
Court of Appeals
Division |
State of Washington

IN ‘THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

In the Matter of the Personal

Restraint of: DIVISION ONE
MUHAMMED TILLISY, No. 81329-3-1
Petitioner. UNPUBLISHED OPINION

DWYER, J. — Petitioner Muhammed Tillisy, an inmate at Monroe
Correctional Complex, filed a personal restraint petition claiming that his
conditions of confinement violate article I, section 14 of the Washington
Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This
is so, he asserts, because of the risk of harm he faces from exposure to COVID-
19. Because Tillisy has since been vaccinated against COVID-19, the risk of
ham that Tillisy faces from COVID-19 has been virtually eliminated.
Accordingly, we deny his petition as moot.

I

Muhammed Tillisy is serving a 49 month sentence for identify theft,

forgery, and unlawful production of a payment insttument. Tillisy suffers from

intracranial hypertension, which has required significant medical attention and

No. 81329-3-I/2
2
has caused him to go blind in one eye. Tillisy also has high blood pressure.
Tillisy’s body mass index is higher than 30, which places him at increased risk for
serious illness from COVID-19. See Underlying Medical Conditions Associated
with High Risk Severe COVID-19: Information for Healthcare Providers, CTRS.
FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION (May 13, 2021),
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-
care/underlyingconditions.html [https://perma.cc/TA4N-4GWB].
On April 2, 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, while Tillisy
was being held at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, he filed an “Emergency
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus” in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court
designated the petition as a personal restraint petition, and transferred it to this
court pursuant to RAP 16.5. In December 2020, our acting chief judge referred
the petition to a panel for a determination of its merits, reasoning that Tillisy’s
claims regarding the Department of Corrections’ management of Tillisy’s medical
conditions and risk of COVID-19 exposure were not frivolous. In the same order,
counsel was appointed to represent Tillisy.
Since Tillisy’s initial petition, he has been moved to the Monroe
Correctional Complex. He received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine on April
20, 2021, and a second dose on June 18, 2021.
II
Tillisy challenges only the conditions of his confinement, contending that,
given his personal medical history, the risk of harm that he faces from exposure

No. 81329-3-I/3
3
to COVID-19 while incarcerated violates article I, section 14 of the Washington
Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Tillisy’s circumstances have changed substantially in the time since his
petition was initially filed. Most significantly, he has been vaccinated against
COVID-19, reducing his risk of contracting COVID-19 by 94.1 percent.1 Indeed,
had the staff at Monroe Correctional Complex not offered vaccination to Tillisy,
that would have been the most likely remedy to which he would have been
entitled. But he has been vaccinated.
Accordingly, Tillisy’s petition is now moot. We will not consider a moot
issue, unless it concerns a matter of continuing and substantial public interest. In
re Pers. Restraint of Silas, 135 Wn. App. 564, 568, 145 P.3d 1219 (2006). The
only such issue here, whether article I, section 14 of our state constitution
provides broader protection than the Eighth Amendment, has recently been
determined by our Supreme Court and is therefore no longer in need of
resolution. Order, No. 99344-1, In re Pers. Restraint Petition of Robert Rufus
Williams, (Wash. Mar. 12. 2021) (declaring that article I, section 14 of the
Washington State Constitution provides more protection than the Eighth
Amendment to the United States Constitution).2
Tillisy has been vaccinated—a state of the art response to the dangers of
COVID-19. The primary legal issue raised in his petition has been decided by
our Supreme Court. We deny his petition as moot.
1Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety, CTRS. FOR DISEASE CONTROL &
PREVENTION (June 11, 2021), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-
vaccines/Moderna.html [https://perma.cc/36HE-ADFE].
2 An opinion explaining the Supreme Court’s reasoning is forthcoming.

No. 81329-3-I/4
1
1
WE CONCUR:
Chan, .
4