Dawes v. The People

Opinion

WILLIAM DAWES, Case No.: 19cv1524 AJB (NLS)

Petitioner, ORDER: (1) GRANTING MOTION v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS; and (2) DISMISSING THE PEOPLE, Warden, CASE WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND Respondent. WITH LEAVE TO AMEND Petitioner, a pre-trial detainee proceeding pro se, has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 together with a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. Petitioner has $0.20 on account at the California correctional institution in which he is presently confined. Petitioner cannot afford the $5.00 filing fee. Thus, the Court GRANTS Petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis, and allows Petitioner to prosecute the above-referenced action without being required to prepay fees or costs and without being required to post security. The Clerk of the Court shall file the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus without prepayment of the filing fee. / / / / / / Petitioner filed this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He is currently a pretrial detainee in the San Diego County Jail awaiting trial and thus 28 U.S.C. § 2241 may be the proper vehicle to challenge such a detention. Petitioner also states in his petition, however, that he is challenging a conviction from Orange County Superior Court which occurred in 2008. (Pet., ECF No. 1 at 1.) Orange County is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division, not the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. See 28 U.S.C. § 84(c)(3). Further, Petitioner states he is challenging a conviction or state criminal proceeding based on “double jeopardy, being tried again for competency of murder case from 2005 which has been closed since 2010,” and gives two case numbers, San Diego Superior Court case no. SCS287189 and California Supreme Court case no. S254694. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s website,1 Petitioner is currently in custody in case no. SCS287189 for various crimes committed while he was in prison. The California Supreme Court website2 states that a petition for writ of habeas corpus was denied on June 19, 2019, but provides no further information. In short, it is unclear what conviction or proceeding Petitioner is challenging, whether he is challenging his detention as a pre-trial detainee or his detention pursuant to a judgment of a state court, and whether 28 U.S.C. § 2241 or 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is the proper vehicle to pursue his claims. See White v. Lambert, 370 F.3d 1002, 1006-07 (9th Cir. 2004) (holding that section 2254 is the proper jurisdictional basis for a habeas

1 San Diego County Sheriff maintains a website entitled “Who’s In Jail” which provides information on San Diego County inmates. See https://apps.sdsheriff.net/wij/wijDetail.aspx?BookNum=%2fTrm6M0WP1mTwssSLzXX Z4CiL5s2dHhf6%2bNp3PWI2ws%3d 2 See https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/mainCaseScreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id= 2281253&doc_no=S254694&request_token=NiIwLSIkTkw3WyBZSCJdSEJIMEA0UD petition brought by an individual “in custody pursuant to a state court judgment” and is properly understood as “in effect implementing] the general grant of habeas corpus authority found in § 2241 as long as the person is in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court, and not in state custody for some other reason, such as pre-conviction custody, custody awaiting extradition, or other forms of custody that are possible without conviction.’’) It is unclear to the Court whether 28 U.S.C. § 2241 is the proper vehicle for Petitioner’s claims. Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES this case without prejudice and with leave to amend. If Petitioner seeks to challenge his pre-trial detention, he may file amended petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 no later than October 21, 2019. If Petitioner seeks to challenge a state court conviction he must file a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 which will be given a new case number. The Clerk of Court is directed to mail Petitioner a blank First Amended Petition pursuant 28 U.S.C. § 2241 form and a blank Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 form together with a copy of this Order. Dated: September 10, 2019 Q Hon, Anthony J.Battaglia United States District Judge