(HC) Howell v. Black ( 2020 )

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 6 RONNIE E. HOWELL, Case No. 20-cv-03250-JSC 7 Plaintiff, ORDER OF TRANSFER v. 8 9 WARDEN, Defendant. 10 11 12 Petitioner, a California prisoner proceeding pro se, filed this petition for a writ of habeas 13 corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.1 The petition challenges the validity of conviction from Fresno 14 County Superior Court. 15 A petition for a writ of habeas corpus made by a person in custody under the judgment 16 and sentence of a state court of a state which contains two or more federal judicial districts may be 17 filed in either the district of confinement or the district of conviction. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). 18 Each of such districts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the petition; however, the 19 district court for the district where the petition is filed may transfer the petition to the other district 20 in the furtherance of justice. See id. Federal courts in California traditionally have chosen to hear 21 petitions challenging a conviction or sentence in the district of conviction. See Dannenberg v. 22 Ingle, 831 F. Supp. 767, 768 (N.D. Cal. 1993); Laue v. Nelson, 279 F. Supp. 265, 266 (N.D. Cal. 23 1968). 24 As Petitioner challenges his conviction, the proper venue for his petition is the district in 25 which he was convicted. Fresno County is located within the venue of the Eastern District of 26 California. See 28 U.S.C. § 84. 27 WAOe 1L.OCU UV VV POI VLEl LMYVUULLIOCEIL or PHM Vai ovVrcy rPayet ¢vic 1 Accordingly, in the interest of justice, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States 2 || District Court for the Eastern District of California. In light of this transfer, ruling on Petitioner’s 3 application to proceed in forma pauperis is deferred to the Eastern District. The Clerk shall 4 || transfer this matter forthwith. 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 Dated: May 26, 2020 7 g ne JAGQQUELINE SCOTT CORL 9 United States Magistrate Judge 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28