Opinion
Civil Action 1:24-cv-02812 (UNA)
11-27-2024
JOSE MARIO LOPEZ CARRILLO, Petitioner, v. STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
ANA C. REYES, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter is before the Court on its initial review of Petitioner's pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus (“Pet.”), ECF No. 1, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and his application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF No. 2. Petitioner is a state inmate who is currently designated to the Stafford Creek Correction Center in Aberdeen, Washington. See Pet. at 1. Petitioner was convicted and sentenced in Chelan County Superior Court in Wenatchee, Washington. See id. He challenges that conviction and sentence, alleging myriad constitutional violations related to his criminal investigation and the resulting proceedings, and seeks his release from custody. See Id. at 6-23.
Federal review of state convictions is available under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 only after the exhaustion of available state remedies. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1). Although it appears that Petitioner has made some efforts in exhausting his state remedies, see Pet. at 3-4, 7, 9-22, “an application for a writ of habeas corpus [ ] made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court . . . may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced [the petitioner] and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Here, Petitioner was convicted and sentenced in Washington State and is in the custody of the Washington State Department of Corrections; therefore, if relief is available to him, he must file for such relief in the United States District Court for the District of Washington.
Accordingly, the petition, and this matter, are dismissed without prejudice. Petitioner's motion to appoint counsel, ECF No. 4, is denied as moot. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.