(DP) Whalen v. Warden of San Quentin ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DANIEL LEE WHALEN, Case No. 1:14-cv-01865-JLT 12 Petitioner, DEATH PENALTY CASE 13 v. ORDER (1) GRANTING PETITIONER’S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO 14 RON BLOOMFIELD, Warden of the SUBSTITUTE RESPONDENT, and (2) California State Prison at San Quentin, DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE 15 COURT TO SUBSTITUTE THE NAME Respondent. OF WARDEN JENNIFER BENAVIDEZ 16 FOR WARDEN RON BLOOMFIELD AS NAMED RESPONDENT 17 18 19 On November 4, 2022, Petitioner Daniel Lee Whalen, through appointed counsel 20 Assistant Federal Defenders Jennifer Mann and Brian Abbington, moved to substitute Jennifer 21 Benavidez, the Warden of the California Medical Facility, as the Respondent in this action in 22 place of Ron Bloomfield, the Warden of the California State Prison at San Quentin. 23 Counsel for Petitioner advise that counsel for Respondent, Deputy Attorney General 24 Catherine Tennant Nieto, has no objection to the motion. 25 The Court, having reviewed Petitioner’s motion, the record, and the controlling law, will 26 grant substitution of Warden Jennifer Benavidez as named Respondent, as discussed below. 27 A petition for writ of habeas corpus by an applicant in custody under a state court judgment shall name as respondent the state officer who has custody. 28 U.S.C. § 2242; Rules 1 Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule 2(a); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d) (providing for the automatic 2 substitution of a successor public officer for a predecessor public officer named as a party in an 3 official capacity). A failure to name the proper respondent destroys personal jurisdiction. 4 Stanley v. California Supreme Court, 21 F.3d 359, 360 (9th Cir. 1994); see also Johnson v. 5 Reilly, 349 F.3d 1149, 1153 (9th Cir. 2003) (the warden of the penitentiary where a prisoner is 6 confined constitutes the custodian who must be named in the petition). 7 Petitioner was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison at the time the initial petition 8 was filed. (Doc. 4-1 at 1; Doc. 41 at 30.1) Petitioner named the warden of that institution as 9 Respondent. (Doc. 41 at 1.) Counsel state that Petitioner now has been transferred to the 10 California Medical Facility (hereinafter “CMF”), and is in the custody of the warden of that 11 institution, Jennifer Benavidez. (Doc. 68 at 1-2.) The Court takes notice that the official 12 website of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reflects: (i) CMF is 13 located in Vacaville, California, (ii) the present warden of CMF is Jennifer Benavidez, and 14 (iii) Petitioner is presently incarcerated at CMF. Fed. R. Evid. 201; see 15 http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/cmf/, (last visited November 7,. 2022), 16 http://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/Results.aspx, (last visited November 7,. 2022). 17 The Court’s jurisdiction over this proceeding is unaffected by Petitioner’s transfer to 18 CMF. Petitioner claims that in the course of the proceedings resulting in his conviction, he 19 suffered violations of his Constitutional rights. (Doc. 41 at 68-625.) The challenged 20 judgment was rendered by the Stanislaus County Superior Court of the State of California, 21 which is located within the territorial jurisdiction of this Court. (Doc. 41 at 30); 28 U.S.C. §§ 22 84(b), 2241(a)(d), and 2254(a); Local Rules for the Eastern District of California, Rule 191(f); 23 see also Francis v. Rison, 894 F.2d 353, 354 (9th Cir.1990) (citing Smith v. Campbell, 450 24 F.2d 829, 834 (9th Cir.1971)) (“[J]urisdiction attaches on the initial filing for habeas corpus 25 relief, and it is not destroyed by a transfer of the petitioner and the accompanying custodial 26 change.”). 27 1 Reference to page numbering is to CM/ECF system pagination. 1 Accordingly, Petitioner’s motion to substitute Jennifer Benavides, the Warden of the 2 |California Medical Facility, as Respondent in place of Ron Bloomfield, the Warden of San 3 | Quentin State Prison (Doc. 68), is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court is directed to substitute 4 |the name of Warden Jennifer Benavidez for Warden Ron Bloomfield as the named Respondent 5 this action. 6 7 IS SO ORDERED. g| Dated: _ November 8, 2022 Cerin | Tower TED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28