Reed v. Bean

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: February 10, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-02156
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 JAMARR REED, Case No. 2:22-cv-02156-ART-EJY 4 Petitioner, ORDER 5 v.

6 JEREMY BEAN, et al.,

7 Respondents.

8 9 In compliance with the court’s prior order (ECF No. 3), petitioner, Jamarr 10 Reed, has paid the filing fee for his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant 11 to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. ECF No. 4. So, the Clerk of Court will be ordered to docket 12 the petition (ECF No. 1-1) and Reed’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF 13 No. 1-2). 14 In screening the petition under Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Habeas 15 Corpus Cases Under Section 2254 (“Habeas Rules”), the court notes that Reed 16 has failed to state his claims with sufficient specificity. See Habeas Rule 2(c); 17 Mayle v. Felix, 545 U.S. 644, 656 (2005) (“A prime purpose of Rule 2(c)’s 18 demand that habeas petitioners plead with particularity is to assist the district 19 court in determining whether the State should be ordered to show cause why 20 the writ should not be granted.” (internal quotation omitted)). In claiming he 21 was deprived of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel, Reed 22 makes various allegations about counsel’s failure to prepare for trial, but the 23 allegations are too vague for respondents to be able to formulate a response. He 24 also asks to incorporate all the claims he raised in his state proceedings, but he 25 does not attach any documents including those claims. Consequently, the 26 petition is subject to summary dismissal under Rule 4. See Hendricks v. 27 Vasquez, 908 F.2d 490, 491 (9th Cir. 1990) (petitions containing allegations 28 that are vague, conclusory, or palpably incredible are subject to summary 1 dismissal). Rather than dismiss, however, the court will give Reed an 2 opportunity to amend his petition. See Jarvis v. Nelson, 440 F.2d 13, 14 (9th 3 Cir. 1971) (“It may be that [the petitioner's] conclusory averments cannot be 4 factually supported, but a petition for writ of habeas corpus should not be 5 dismissed without leave to amend unless it appears that no tenable claim for 6 relief can be pleaded were such leave granted.”) 7 Reed has also submitted a motion for appointment of counsel. Whenever 8 the court determines that the interests of justice so require, counsel may 9 be appointed to any financially eligible person who is seeking habeas corpus 10 relief. 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). Appointment in the interests of justice is 11 appropriate when the issues are complex and the penalty is severe. See Chaney 12 v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 1986). Reed was convicted of multiple 13 counts of kidnapping, sexual assault, and battery and received several life 14 sentences. The Nevada Supreme Court’s order affirming his direct appeal 15 suggests his case involves complex claims that would require the assistance of 16 counsel to articulate.1 Thus, the court will grant Rodriguez’s motion for 17 appointment of counsel. 18 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Clerk of Court detach and file 19 Reed’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus (ECF 1-1) and motion for 20 appointment of counsel (ECF No. 1-2). 21 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk add Aaron D. Ford, Nevada 22 Attorney General, as counsel for respondents and provide respondents an 23 electronic copy of all items previously filed in this case by regenerating the 24 Notice of Electronic Filing to the office of the AG only. 25 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Reed’s motion for appointment of 26

27 1 While the order is not included with Reed’s petition, the court takes judicial notice of the order available online. 28 https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseView.do?csIID=64824 1 |} counsel is GRANTED. 2 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Federal Public Defender for the 3 || District of Nevada (FPD) is appointed to represent Reed. 4 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk ELECTRONICALLY SERVE 5 || the FPD a copy of this order, together with a copy of the petition for writ of 6 || habeas corpus (ECF Nos. 1-1). The FPD has 30 days from the date of entry of 7 || this order to file a notice of appearance or to indicate to the court its inability to 8 || represent Reed in these proceedings. 9 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that after counsel has appeared for Reed in 10 || this case, the court will issue a scheduling order, which will, among other 11 || things, set a deadline for the filing of an amended petition. 12 13 DATED THIS 10th day of February, 2023. 14 15 Ana jlosed Ter 16 ANNE R. TRAUM 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28