Atkins v. Garcia

816 F. Supp. 2d 1108, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101788, 2011 WL 4018078
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedSeptember 8, 2011
DocketCivil Action 10-cv-03043-CMA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 816 F. Supp. 2d 1108 (Atkins v. Garcia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atkins v. Garcia, 816 F. Supp. 2d 1108, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101788, 2011 WL 4018078 (D. Colo. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION FOR HABEAS CORPUS

CHRISTINE M. ARGUELLO, District Judge.

The matter is before the Court on Applicant John Louis Atkins’ Amended Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, filed February 25, 2011 (Am. Application) (Doc. # 14), and his Second Amended Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (Sec. Application) (Doc. # 38) filed on May 26, 2011. The Applications have been briefed, see Answer (Doc. # 42), Reply (Doc. # 46), Supp. Answer (Doc. # 48), and Supp. Reply (Doc. #51). For the reasons stated below, it is hereby

ORDERED that Claims One and Four as set forth below are GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

Applicant is a federal prisoner who was housed in the State of Colorado at the time he initiated this action. Subsequent to filing this action, he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Applicant currently is serving a forty-six month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which was entered by the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. See United States v. Atkins, No. 09-cr-00029-WFD (D.Wyo. July 31, 2009). According to Respondent, and Applicant does not deny, Applicant has a projected release date of November 2, 2012, via good conduct time release. See Answer, Ex. A at Attach. 2.

II. APPLICATION

Applicant submitted his first § 2241 Application to the Court on December 15, 2010, challenging the execution of his sentence. (Application at 1-2.) Pursuant to a court order entered by Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland, Applicant filed an Amended Application on February 25, 2011, that complied with Fed.R.Civ.P. 8 and identified three claims. Magistrate Judge Boland then directed Respondent to file a Preliminary Response and address the affirmative defense of exhaustion of administrative remedies, which Respondent did on March 21, 2011. In the Preliminary Response filed on March 21, 2011, Respondent asserted that Claims Two and Three are not properly raised in a § 2241 action, and Claim One is not exhausted.

Applicant filed a Reply on April 13, 2011, and claimed interference by BOP staff in his attempts to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to Claim One. Upon review of Applicant’s Reply, Magistrate Judge Boland determined that Applicant had raised a legitimate claim of staff interference and instructed Respondent to brief the alleged interference. On May 5, 2011, Respondent filed a Response to the April 21 Order and waived the affirmative defense of exhaustion as to Claim One. Also, on May 5, Mr. Atkins tendered a Second Amended Application that contains an additional or fourth claim. Magistrate Judge Boland directed Respondent to file a Second Preliminary Response limited to addressing the affirmative defense of exhaustion of administrative reme *1110 dies with respect to the additional claim. On May 18, 2011, Respondent filed a Second Preliminary Response and stated he would not raise an affirmative defense as to the newly proposed claim. Magistrate Judge Boland then ordered the Clerk of the Court to file the tendered Second Amended Application.

On May 26, 2011, the Court entered an order dismissing Claims Two and Three because the claims more properly are raised in a civil complaint filed pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named, Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). The Court also directed Respondent to show cause why Claims One and Four should not be granted. Respondent filed an Answer on June 15, 2011, and Applicant filed a Reply on July 1, 2011.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

A § 2241 habeas proceeding is “an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and ... the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody.” McIntosh v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 115 F.3d 809, 811 (10th Cir.1997) (quoting Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 484, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973)) (internal quotation marks omitted). “A motion pursuant to § 2241 generally ... [includes] such matters as the administration of parole, computation of a prisoner’s sentence by prison officials, prison disciplinary actions, prison transfers, type of detention and prison conditions.” Hernandez v. Davis, 2008 WL 2955856, at *7 (D.Colo. July 30, 2008) (quoting Jiminian v. Nash, 245 F.3d 144, 146 (2d Cir.2001)) (internal quotations omitted). “A[n] [application] under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 attacks the execution of a sentence rather than its validity....” Bradshaw v. Story, 86 F.3d 164, 166 (10th Cir.1996).

A § 2241 application must be filed in the district where the prisoner is confined. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a); Bradshaw, 86 F.3d at 166. Here, Applicant correctly filed this Application in the District of Colorado, where he was incarcerated at the time of the initial filing.

The Court must construe liberally the Application filed by Applicant because he is not represented by an attorney. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). However, the Court should not act as an advocate for a pro se litigant. See Hall, 935 F.2d at 1110.

IY. ANALYSIS

A. CLAIM ONE

In Claim One, Applicant asserts that presentence jail credit time was not appropriately applied to his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b)(2) and USSC Guideline 5G1.3(c). Applicant contends that on December 6, 2008, he was arrested. He further asserts that he was placed in the Johnson County (Wyoming) Jail and subsequently on December 19, 2008, was sentenced to 180 days in jail with nine days credited for presentence jail time.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fuimaona v. Hudson
D. Kansas, 2020
Lorance v. Commandant
D. Kansas, 2020
Jones v. English
D. Kansas, 2019
Bates v. Saad
N.D. West Virginia, 2019

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
816 F. Supp. 2d 1108, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101788, 2011 WL 4018078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atkins-v-garcia-cod-2011.