This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

P entered simultaneous guilty pleas to one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and two counts of murder. D recommended that P be sentenced to a prison term of three years on the marijuana count, to run consecutively with two concurrent life sentences on the murder counts. State law required P to serve at least ten months on the marijuana count, and at least ten years on the concurrent life sentences. The court imposed the sentences in this order: the three-year sentence first, then, consecutively, the concurrent life sentences. Seven months later, P asked for permission to withdraw his guilty plea on the marijuana count. It told him to apply for state postconviction collateral relief. Two years later the Mississippi Supreme Court rejected his appeal and denied further postconviction motions filed by P. P had completed the period of incarceration set for the marijuana offense and had commenced serving the life sentences. P filed a habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court. The District Court denied P's petition on the merits. Before the Court of Appeals D argued for the first time that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over P's petition. P had already served out the prison time imposed for the marijuana conviction; therefore, P was no longer 'in custody' under that conviction within the meaning of the federal habeas statute. P claimed he remained 'in custody' until all sentences were served, emphasizing that the marijuana conviction continued to postpone the date on which he would be eligible for parole. The court dismissed P's habeas petition for want of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

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