(HC) Swope v. Laudy ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ART SWOPE, ) Case No.: 1:23-cv-01412-SKO (HC) ) 12 Petitioner, ) ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR PRODUCTION ) OF DOCUMENTS 13 v. ) 14 ) [Doc. 33] ) 15 LUNDY, ) ) 16 Respondent. ) ) 17 ) 18 19 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 20 U.S.C. § 2254. 21 On May 16, 2024, Petitioner filed a motion requesting that the “Attorney General copy and 22 send the petitioner all documents he has relating to this case.” (Doc. 33.) On May 29, 2024, 23 Respondent filed an opposition to the motion. (Doc. 37.) 24 Petitioner’s motion is essentially a discovery request in the form of a request for production of 25 documents. The writ of habeas corpus is not a proceeding in the original criminal prosecution but an 26 independent civil suit.” Riddle v. Dyche, 262 U.S. 333, 335-336 (1923); See, e.g., Keeney v. Tamayo- 27 Reyes, 504 U.S. 1, 14 (1992) (O’Connor, J., dissenting). A habeas proceeding does not proceed to 28 “trial,” and “unlike the usual civil litigant in federal court, [a habeas corpus petitioner] is not entitled 1 to discovery as a matter of ordinary course.” Bracy v. Gramley, 520 U.S. 899, 903-05 (1997); Harris 2 v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286, 295 (1969). Instead, modern habeas corpus procedure has the same function 3 as an ordinary appeal. Anderson v. Butler, 886 F.2d 111, 113 (5th Cir. 1989); O’Neal v. McAnnich, 4 513 U.S. 440, 442 (1995) (federal court’s function in habeas corpus proceedings is to “review errors in 5 state criminal trials” (emphasis omitted)). Thus, Petitioner is not entitled to discovery of “all 6 documents [Respondent] has relating to this case.” (Doc. 33 at 1.) 7 Petitioner is advised that the Court and its staff do not provide copy services for parties. The 8 Clerk’s office has no facilities or procedures for providing copies to parties or for recouping the costs 9 involved in such services. To the extent that Petitioner seeks copies of certain documents filed with 10 the Court, which are public records, he has two options: he may have someone copy those documents 11 directly at the Court; or, if Petitioner or an associate has access to the internet, he can access the 12 Court’s website and download and print the relevant documents. 13 Accordingly, the motion requesting Respondent to produce documents is DENIED. 14 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 Dated: May 31, 2024 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 17 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28