Opinion
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER, United States Attorney, JASON HITT, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Sacramento, California.
JASON HITT, Assistant U.S. Attorney.
ORDER RELATING CASES [Local Rule 123(f)]
TROY L. NUNLEY, District Judge.
The United States of America, by and through its undersigned counsel, hereby notices the Court and the Clerk of the Court that the supervised release violation petition in United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 WBS, is related to the case of United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:13-cr-0383 TLN within the meaning of Local Rule 123(f).
The 2005 Case
In the 2005 case of United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 WBS, the Honorable Edward J. Garcia sentenced the defendant to 150 months in prison, followed by 60 months of supervised release after the defendant was convicted of drug trafficking and felon in possession of a firearm. The defendant completed this prison sentence and began his supervised release term on or about June 27, 2013.
On November 18, 2013, the Probation Office filed a petition alleging the defendant violated various terms of his supervised release by engaging in drug trafficking crimes and firearms possession. The charges in the pending supervised release petition track the conduct alleged in the recently-returned 2013 Indictment against this defendant.
The retirement of Judge Garcia resulted in the Chief Judge reassigning the 2005 case (and the pending petition for supervised release violations from that case) to the Honorable William B. Shubb.
The 2012 Indictment
On November 21, 2013, a Sacramento grand jury returned a three-count Indictment in United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:13-cr-0383 TLN. The Indictment alleges that the defendant possessed with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possessed firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and was a felon in possession of firearms. These Counts are the same allegations contained in each charge of the pending supervised petition in United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 WBS.
Related Cases Under Local Rule 123(f)
Local Rule 123(f) contemplates a Related Case Order being issued in the current pending matters.
Where a Notice of Related Cases is filed suggesting that a petition for probation action and/or violation of the terms of supervised release should be related to a new indictment, and the basis of the probation petition or alleged supervised release violation is the conduct underlying the new indictment, the two actions shall be related and the Judge or Magistrate Judge assigned to the new criminal action shall also be assigned the earlier action, unless the original sentencing judge desires to retain the first action, in which circumstance both actions shall be assigned to the original sentencing judge.
The two Williams matters are related within the meaning of Local Rule 123(f) because the basis of the petition for supervised release violation before Judge Shubb is the same conduct underlying the new Indictment before Judge Nunley. For this reason, the United States respectfully requests that both matters be assigned to Judge Nunley pursuant to the the authority of Local Rule 123(f).
ORDER
For the reasons set forth in the Notice of Related Cases filed by counsel for the United States, the Court finds that the pending petition for violation of supervised release conditions in United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 WBS, is related to the Indictment in United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:13-cr-0383 TLN, within the meaning of Local Rule 123(f) because the conduct underlying the petition for violation of supervised release and the Indictment are the same.
Based upon this finding, pursuant to Local Rule 123(c), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall REASSIGN the case of United States v. Williams, Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 WBS, to the Honorable Troy L. Nunley and it shall be designated "Case No. 2:05-cr-0501 TLN."
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court make appropriate adjustment in the assignment of cases to compensate for this reassignment.
IT IS SO ORDERED.