Gould v. Renbart ( 2023 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 STEVEN ERIC GOULD, Case No. 2:22-cv-01755-GMN-EJY 4 Petitioner, v. ORDER 5 WILLIAM RENBART, et al., 6 Respondents. 7 8 Following the Notice of Appearance (ECF No. 20) by the Federal Public Defender on 9 behalf of Petitioner Steven Eric Gould, it is hereby ordered: 10 1. The Federal Public Defender, through Ron Y. Sung, Esq., is appointed as counsel for 11 Petitioner pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). Counsel will represent Petitioner in 12 all federal proceedings related to this matter, including any appeals or certiorari 13 proceedings, unless allowed to withdraw. 14 2. Petitioner will have until February 29, 2024, to file an amended petition and/or seek other 15 appropriate relief. This deadline and any extension thereof may not be construed as 16 implied findings regarding the federal limitation period or a basis for tolling. Petitioner 17 at all times remains responsible for calculating the running of the federal limitation 18 period and timely asserting claims, without regard to any court-ordered deadlines or 19 extensions. Thus, a petition or amended petition filed within a court-ordered deadline 20 may still be dismissed as untimely if it violates the statute of limitations. See Sossa v. 21 Diaz, 729 F.3d 1225, 1235 (9th Cir. 2013). 22 3. Respondents must file a response to the amended petition, including potentially by 23 motion to dismiss, within 60 days of service of an amended petition. Petitioner may file a 24 reply within 30 days of service of the answer. However, Local Rule LR 7-2(b) governs 25 the response and reply time to any motion filed by either party, including motions filed in 26 lieu of a pleading. 27 4. Any procedural defenses Respondents raise to the counseled amended petition must be 28 raised together in a single, consolidated motion to dismiss. Successive motions to 1 dismiss will not be entertained, and any procedural defenses omitted from the 2 consolidated motion to dismiss will be waived. Respondents may not file a response that 3 consolidates their procedural defenses, if any, with their response on the merits. But 4 arguments that an unexhausted claim clearly lacks merit may be included a procedural- 5 defense response. If Respondents seek dismissal of unexhausted claims under 28 U.S.C. 6 § 2254(b)(2) they must: (1) do so in a single motion to dismiss, not in the answer; and (2) 7 specifically direct their argument to the standard for dismissal under § 2254(b)(2) as set 8 forth in Cassett v. Stewart, 406 F.3d 614, 623–24 (9th Cir. 2005). In short, no procedural 9 defenses, including exhaustion, may be included with the merits in an answer. All 10 procedural defenses, including exhaustion, must be raised in a single motion to dismiss. 11 5. In any answer filed on the merits, Respondents must specifically cite to and address the 12 applicable state court written decision and state court record materials, if any, regarding 13 each claim within the response as to that claim. 14 6. Respondents must file the state court exhibits relevant to their response in chronological 15 order. 16 7. All state court records and related exhibits must be filed in accordance with LR IA 10-3 17 and LR IC 2-2 and include a separate index identifying each exhibit by number or letter. 18 The index must be filed in CM/ECF’s document upload screen as the base document to 19 receive the base docket number (e.g., ECF No. 10). Each exhibit must then be filed as 20 “attachments” to the base document to receive a sequenced sub-docket number (e.g., 21 Exhibit A (ECF No. 10-1), Exhibit B (ECF No. 10-2), Exhibit C (ECF No. 10-3), and so 22 forth). If the exhibits will span more than one filing, the base document in each 23 successive filing must be either a copy of the index or volume cover page. See LR IC 2- 24 2(a)(3)(A). 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 8. Notwithstanding LR IC 2-2(g), paper copies of any electronically filed exhibits need not 2 be provided to chambers or to the staff attorney, unless later directed by the court. 3 DATED: December 1, 2023 4 5 ______________________________ GLORIA M. NAVARRO 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28