(HC) Williams v. Allen ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ANTHONY JAMES WILLIAMS, Case No. 23-cv-00305-SVK 8 Petitioner, ORDER OF TRANSFER v. 9 10 SUPERIOR COURT OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY, 11 Respondent. 12 Petitioner, a California prisoner proceeding without an attorney, filed this petition for a 13 writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petition challenges the validity of Petitioner’s 14 conviction in Sacramento 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 the validity of his conviction, the proper venue for his petition is 25 the district in which he was convicted. Sacramento County is located within the venue of the 26 Eastern District of California. See 28 U.S.C. § 84. 27 Accordingly, in the interest of justice, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States 1 District Court for the Eastern District of California. In light of this transfer, ruling on Petitioner’s 2 motion for appointment of counsel is deferred to the Eastern District. The Clerk shall terminate 3 this motion from this Court’s docket (docket number 2)), and shall transfer this matter forthwith. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: January 30, 2023 6 7 SUSAN VAN KEULEN 8 United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27