Navarrette v. Attorney General of the State of Nevada

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 NICHOLAS A. NAVARRETTE, Case No. 2:20-cv-02061-APG-DJA 4 Petitioner, 5 v. ORDER

6 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF (ECF No. 1) NEVADA, et al., 7 Respondents. 8 9 Petitioner Nicholas Navarrette has named only the state attorney general as the respondent 10 on the petition form. Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases states that, 11 when a petitioner is “in custody under a state-court judgment, the petition must name as 12 respondent the state officer who has custody.” The failure to name the proper respondent strips 13 the court of personal jurisdiction. Smith v. Idaho, 392 F.3d 350, 354 (9th Cir. 2004); Ortiz- 14 Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1996). I will allow Navarrette an opportunity to 15 file an amended petition that names the correct respondents. 16 Navarrette is unable to afford counsel and the appointment of counsel furthers the interests 17 of justice based on the procedural complexity of this federal habeas action, the lengthy sentence 18 structure, and Navarrette’s relatively limited ability to articulate his claims in proper person with 19 the resources available to him.1 20 I THEREFORE ORDER the clerk of the court to file the petition. 21 I FURTHER ORDER that Navarrette’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 1-3) 22 is GRANTED. 23 I FURTHER ORDER that the Federal Public Defender is provisionally appointed as 24 counsel and will have until May 24, 2021 to undertake direct representation of Navarrette or to 25 indicate the office’s inability to represent him in these proceedings. If the Federal Public Defender 26 is unable to represent Navarrette, I will appoint alternate counsel. The counsel appointed will 27

28 1 See 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). 1 || represent Navarrette in all federal proceedings related to this matter, including any appeals or 2 || certiorari proceedings, unless allowed to withdraw. A deadline for the filing of an amended 3 || petition or seeking other relief will be set after counsel has entered an appearance. I anticipate 4 || setting the deadline for approximately 60 days from entry of the formal order of appointment. Any 5 || deadline established will not signify any implied finding of a basis for tolling during the time 6 || period established. Navarrette at all times remains responsible for calculating the running of the 7 || federal limitation period and timely presenting claims. That is, by setting a deadline to amend the 8 || petition or granting any extension, I make no finding or representation that the petition, any 9 || amendments thereto, or any claims are not subject to dismissal as untimely. See Sossa v. Diaz, 729 10 || F.3d 1225, 1235 (9th Cir. 2013). 11 I FURTHER ORDER, so the respondents may be electronically served with any papers 12 || filed through counsel, that the Clerk of Court will add state attorney general Aaron D. Ford as 13 || counsel for the respondents and make informal electronic service of this order upon the 14 || respondents by directing a notice of electronic filing to him. The respondents’ counsel must enter 15 || anotice of appearance within 21 days of entry of this order, but no further response will be required 16 || from them until further order of the Court. 17 The Clerk of Court shall send a copy of this order to Navarrette, the Nevada Attorney 18 || General, the Federal Public Defender, and the CJA Coordinator for this division. 19 Dated: April 23, 2021. 20 L- ANDREW P. GORDON 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28