Johnson v. Groveland Correctional Facility ( 2020 )

PS/CD UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK MARSHEEM JOHNSON, Petitioner, v. 20-CV-00848 LJV ORDER GROVELAND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, Respondent. The pro se petitioner, Masheem Johnson, is an inmate confined at the Groveland Correctional Facility (“Groveland”) in Sonyea, New York. He seeks relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging that his conviction in the county court of Onondaga County, New York, was unlawfully obtained. Docket Item 1. For the reasons that follow, the Court transfers the matter to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), [w]here an application for a writ of habeas corpus is made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court of a State which contains two or more Federal judicial districts, the application may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced him and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The district court for the district wherein such an application is filed in the exercise of its discretion and in furtherance of justice may transfer the application to the other district court for hearing and determination. Id. (emphasis added). Groveland is located within the Western District of New York, and Onondaga County is located within the Northern District of New York. Venue therefore properly lies in either district. The Court nevertheless finds that transfer of this matter would be “in furtherance of justice.” See id. All records relating to the petitioner's underlying criminal conviction, and presumably any witnesses other than the petitioner himself who might testify at a hearing, are located in Onondaga County, making the Northern District a more convenient venue. See Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Ky., 410 U.S. 484, 499 (1973). The Court leaves a decision on the petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis, Docket Item 2, to the Northern District of New York. ORDER In light of the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall transfer this matter to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. SO ORDERED. Dated: July 11, 2020 Buffalo New York /s/ Hon. Lawrence J. Vilardo LAWRENCE J. VILARDO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE