Gonzales v. Gittere ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 Raul Gonzalez, Case No.: 2:24-cv-00816-JAD-EJY 4 Petitioner, Order Granting Motion for Appointment of Counsel 5 v. [ECF No. 4] 6 Warden William Gittere, et al., 7 Respondents. 8 Pro se Petitioner Raul Gonzalez filed this 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of habeas 9 corpus,1 challenging his 2020 judgment of conviction of first-degree murder with use of a deadly 10 weapon; discharging a firearm at or into occupied structure; and four counts of child abuse, 11 neglect, or endangerment. Gonzalez also moves for appointment of counsel.2 I find that the 12 appointment of counsel is in the interests of justice, so I provisionally appoint the Federal 13 Public Defender to represent Gonzalez in this habeas case. 14 Discussion 15 Gonzalez is currently serving a lengthy aggregate sentence term of 30 to 76 years. His 16 petition raises relatively complex issues, including numerous claims of ineffective assistance of 17 counsel. In addition, Gonzalez asserts that he is filing a protective petition to preserve his federal 18 habeas claims before the Nevada Court of Appeals reaches a decision on his post-conviction 19 state habeas claims.3 Gonzalez also has an ongoing, separate-but-related federal habeas case.4 20 21 1 ECF No. 1-1. 22 2 ECF No. 4. 23 3 ECF No. 1-1 at 10. 4 See Gonzalez v. Gittere, Case No. 2:21-cv-2055-GMN-DJA. 1 He is financially eligible for appointment of counsel;5 although he has paid the filing fee, he 2 lacks the funds to afford counsel.6 3 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 4 1. Petitioner’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel [ECF No. 4] is GRANTED. 5 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to ADD Gonzalez v. Gittere, Case No. 2:21-cv- 6 2055-GMN-DJA, as a related case on the docket of this matter. 7 3. The Federal Public Defender is provisionally appointed as counsel and will have 8 until June 28, 2024, to undertake direct representation of petitioner or to 9 indicate the office’s inability to represent the petitioner in these proceedings. If 10 the Federal Public Defender is unable to represent the petitioner, I will appoint 11 alternate counsel. Appointed counsel will represent the petitioner in all federal 12 proceedings related to this matter, including any appeals or certiorari proceedings, 13 unless allowed to withdraw. Any deadline for the filing of an amended petition or 14 seeking other relief will be set after counsel has entered an appearance. I anticipate 15 setting the deadline for approximately 90 days from entry of the formal order of 16 appointment. 17 4. Any deadline established or any extension thereof will not signify any implied finding 18 of a basis for tolling during the time period established. Petitioner at all times 19 remains responsible for calculating the running of the federal limitation period and 20 timely presenting claims. That is, by setting a deadline to amend the petition and/or 21 by granting any extension thereof, I make no finding or representation that the 22 23 5 18 U.S.C. § 3006A. 6 ECF No. 4. ] petition, any amendments thereto, or any claims contained therein are not subject to 2 dismissal as untimely.’ 3 5. The Clerk of Court is directed to ADD Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General of the 4 State of Nevada, as counsel for respondents and provide the respondents an electronic 5 copy of all items previously filed in this case by regenerating the notice of electronic 6 filing to the Office of the AG only. Respondents’ counsel must enter a notice of 7 appearance within 21 days of entry of this order, but no further response will be 8 required from respondents until further order of the Court. 9 6. The Clerk of Court is further directed to SEND a copy of this order to the pro se 10 petitioner, the Nevada Attorney General, the Federal Public Defender, and the CJA 11 Coordinator for this division. The Clerk will further provide the Federal Public 12 Defender with copies of all prior filings in this case by regenerating notices of 13 electronic filing. 14 > IVY, 16 Dated: June 2, 2024 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 7 See Sossa v. Diaz, 729 F.3d 1225, 1235 (9th Cir. 2013).