Dotson v. Vannoy ( 2020 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA DERRICK DOTSON CIVIL ACTION VERSUS NO. 20-2359 c/w 20-2797 DARREL VANNOY, WARDEN SECTION “A”(4) O R D E R Before the Court is the Motion to Stay and Abeyance (ECF No. 4) filed by petitioner Derrick Dotson.1 Petitioner requests that this matter be stayed and held in abeyance pending action on his United States Supreme Court writ application, No. 19-8776, filed by his counsel on August 31, 2020. Dotson asserts that the writ application addresses the post-conviction claims presented in this federal habeas petition. In accordance with the Court’s Briefing Order (ECF No. 8), the State filed a Notice (ECF No. 14) indicating that the respondent does not oppose the motion. The parties agree to the stay and the Court finds good cause for the stay of this matter. See Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 278 (2005); Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 416 (2005). Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Dotson’s Motion to Stay and Abeyance (ECF No. 4) is GRANTED and his consolidated petitions for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 are hereby STAYED. The Clerk of Court is directed to CLOSE the case for administrative and statistical purposes. 1A magistrate judge has authority to address a motion to stay when the order is not dispositive and merely suspends the proceedings without an absolute denial of ultimate relief. Virgin Islands Water and Power Auth. v. Gen. Elec. Int’l Inc., 561 F. App’x 131 (3rd Cir. 2014); SEC v. CMKM Diamonds, Inc., 729 F.3d 1248, 1260 (9th Cir. 2013); Powershare, Inc. v. Syntel, Inc., 597 F.3d 10, 14 (1st Cir. 2010). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that either Dotson or the respondent may move to re-open this matter within sixty (60) days after the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on Dotson’s pending writ application, No. 19-8776. New Orleans, Louisiana, this 13th day of November, 2020. KAREN WELLS “ CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE