Ismail v. Moorhead Police Dept.
- Jeffrey Bryan
- 0:25-cv-03447
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 1
In Zhiwar Ismail v. Moorhead Police Dept., Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan denied Zhiwar Ismail's petition asking the federal court to order his release or other relief, adopting a magistrate judge's recommendation after no party objected.
Zhiwar Ismail, who sought federal court review of what appears to be a claim of unlawful detention or restraint involving the Moorhead Police Department. The ruling denies him relief and blocks an appeal without further permission from a higher court.
What happened
In Zhiwar Ismail v. Moorhead Police Dept. (Case No. 25-cv-3447), Zhiwar Ismail filed a petition in federal court seeking a writ of habeas corpus — a legal request asking a court to review whether someone is being held or otherwise restrained unlawfully — against the Moorhead Police Department. A magistrate judge (Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins) reviewed the case and issued a written recommendation that the petition be denied. Neither Ismail nor the Moorhead Police Department filed any objections to that recommendation within the allowed time.
Because no objections were filed, Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan reviewed the magistrate judge's recommendation only for obvious legal error. Finding none, the court adopted the recommendation in full. The court also denied Ismail's separate request to proceed without paying court filing fees (sometimes called a fee waiver), and the court declined to issue a certificate of appealability — a document that would have been required for Ismail to appeal the habeas ruling to a higher court.
Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan issued this order on November 10, 2025. The petition was denied, the fee waiver request was denied, and no certificate of appealability was issued, meaning Ismail cannot appeal the habeas ruling without first obtaining permission from the appeals court itself.
The detailed version
Case: Zhiwar Ismail v. Moorhead Police Dept., No. 25-cv-3447 (JMB/SGE), U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota. Decided November 10, 2025 by Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan.
Background
Petitioner Zhiwar Ismail filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) against the Moorhead Police Department. Habeas corpus is a legal mechanism by which a person challenges the lawfulness of their detention or restraint in federal court. Ismail also filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) — that is, a request to waive filing fees based on financial hardship — (Doc. No. 2).
Magistrate Judge Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) (Doc. No. 3) recommending denial of the habeas petition. The opinion does not describe the substantive grounds for the recommended denial beyond indicating that the R&R made this recommendation.
Objections
Neither Ismail nor the Moorhead Police Department filed timely objections to the R&R. The deadline for doing so under District of Minnesota Local Rule 72.2(b)(1) has passed.
Standard of Review
In the absence of timely objections, the district court reviews the R&R only for clear error, citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b) and Grinder v. Gammon, 73 F.3d 793, 795 (8th Cir. 1996).
Holdings:
- The R&R (Doc. No. 3) is adopted in full.
- The habeas petition (Doc. No. 1) is denied.
- Ismail's IFP application (Doc. No. 2) is denied.
- No certificate of appealability (COA) is issued. A COA is required under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 to appeal the denial of a habeas petition to the circuit court. Without a COA from the district court, Ismail would need to seek one directly from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Note
The opinion does not describe the factual background of the underlying dispute, the nature of Ismail's custody or restraint, or the specific legal grounds on which the magistrate judge recommended denial. Those details are contained in Doc. No. 3 (the R&R), which is not reproduced here.
Reviewer note from the AI+
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.