Nichols v. Arkansas, State of ( 2022 )

1 WO JL 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Johnny Lee Nichols, No. CV 22-00872-PHX-MTL (DMF) 10 Petitioner, 11 v. ORDER 12 State of Arkansas, et al., 13 Respondents. 14 15 Petitioner Johnny Lee Nichols, who is confined in the East Arkansas Regional Unit 16 in Marianna, Arkansas, has filed a “Removal of Case from State Court,” which the Clerk 17 of Court docketed as Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 18 (“Petition”) to facilitate its consideration. 19 In the Petitioner, Petitioner names as Respondents the State of Arkansas, Director 20 of the Arkansas Department of Corrections Dexter Payne, and Warden G. Lay. Petitioner 21 challenges an Arkansas criminal conviction. His connection to Arizona, if any, is unclear. 22 Thus, this Court is not the correct venue to hear the Petition. 23 When venue has been laid in the wrong district, the Court must “dismiss, or if it be 24 in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have 25 been brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Whether to dismiss or transfer the case is within the 26 Court’s discretion. Cook v. Fox, 537 F.2d 370, 371 (9th Cir. 1976). 27 Petitioner could have brought the Petition in the United States District Court for the 28 Eastern District of Arkansas, Eastern Division. The Court will therefore transfer the 1| Petition and this action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Eastern Division. 3 IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of Court must transfer the Petition (Doc. 1) and 4) this case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Eastern Division. 6 Dated this 25th day of May, 2022. 7 8 Wichal T. Fburde 9 Michael T. Liburdi 10 United States District Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28