Opinion
23-cv-05122-VKD
10-10-2023
DAVID JAMES KRAUSE, Petitioner, v. C.M.F. WARDEN, Respondent.
ORDER OF TRANSFER
VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
David James Krause, a state prisoner currently confined at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging his state conviction out of San Luis Obispo County. Dkt. No. 1 at 1.
A petition for a writ of habeas corpus made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a state court of a state which contains two or more federal judicial districts may be filed in either the district of confinement or the district of conviction. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Mr. Krause's district of confinement is the Eastern District of California, which includes Solano County where Vacaville is located. 28 U.S.C. § 84(b). However, Mr. Krause's district of conviction is the Western Division of the Central District, which includes San Luis Obispo County. 28 U.S.C. § 84(c)(2). Accordingly, the Northern District of California has no jurisdiction over this matter.
Federal courts in California traditionally have chosen to hear habeas petitions challenging a state conviction or sentence in the district of conviction or sentencing. See Habeas L.R. 2254-3(b)(1); Dannenberg v. Ingle, 831 F.Supp. 767, 768 (N.D. Cal. 1993); Laue v. Nelson, 279 F.Supp. 265, 266 (N.D. Cal. 1968). Accordingly, in the exercise of its discretion and in the furtherance of justice, the Court finds that this case should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western Division of the Central District of California. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a); Habeas L.R. 2254-3(b)(1).
The Clerk of the Court shall terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file to the Western Division of the Central District of California.
IT IS SO ORDERED.