In Re Bittaker

We hold that an inmate who has been declared a vexatious litigant retains the right to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus unencumbered by vexatious litigant procedures which apply to the filing of a civil action or proceeding.

Background

In 1979, Lawrence S. Bittaker (petitioner) kidnapped five teenage girls, raped four of them, tortured at least one, and murdered all five. A jury found him guilty of 26 felony counts and found 38 special circumstances. The trial court pronounced a judgment of death, and the California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the conviction and sentence. (People v. Bittaker (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1046, 1062, 1111 [ 259 Cal.Rptr. 630 , 774 P.2d 659 ].) Petitioner has since resided on death row in San Quentin Prison, Marin County.

In 1993, the trial court declared petitioner a vexatious litigant as defined by Code of Civil Procedure section 391 (all unspecified statutory cites are to this code). The court found petitioner came within the definition of “vexatious litigant” on two distinct grounds. First, in the preceding seven-year period, petitioner had commenced, prosecuted or maintained in propria persona at least nineteen litigations, other…