Cummings v. Perkins

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA CASE NO. 2:23-cv-1314-JNW-GJL Petitioner, v. ORDER DENYING MOTION TO JEFFEREY PERKINS, et al., Respondents.

This 28 U.S.C. § 2254 federal habeas action has been referred to United States Magistrate Judge Grady J. Leupold. Currently before the Court is Petitioner Clayton Evan Cummings’ Motion requesting another stay of these federal habeas proceedings. Dkt. 33. This action has already been stayed so that Petitioner may attempt to exhaust his state court remedies as permitted by Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 275–77 (2005), and the instant Motion does not request a stay for this permissible purpose. See Dkt. 13 (Order Granting Stay). Rather, Petitioner requests these proceedings be stayed during the pendency of an alleged investigation into a criminal complaint ostensibly filed with the Federal Bureaus of Investigation regarding Petitioner’s underlying state court prosecution. See Dkt. 30. Because Petitioner’s request for an additional stay does not fall within the “limited circumstances” for which stay-and-abeyance procedures are available in federal habeas cases, Rhines, 544 U.S. at 277, Petitioner’s Motion to Stay (Dkt. 33) is DENIED.

Dated this 26th day of August, 2025. A Grady J. Leupold United States Magistrate Judge