Opinion
CIVIL 5:23-CV-429-MTT-CHW
08-01-2024
JEROME COAST, JR, Petitioner, v. STATE OF GEORGIA, et al., Respondents.
ORDER
MARC T. TREADWELL, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
In accordance with the Court's previous orders and instructions, Petitioner Jerome Coast, Jr., an inmate currently confined in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia, has filed a recast petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (ECF No. 12) and a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 13). Petitioner has also filed an amended motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 14). Petitioner signed his Recast Petition on June 26, 2024, and it is therefore considered timely. Recast Pet. 15, ECF No. 13. Because Petitioner has now complied with the Court's previous orders, the Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge to dismiss this case for failure to comply (ECF No. 11) may be TERMINATED as moot.
Under the “mailbox rule” the Court generally deems a prisoner document filed on the date the plaintiff delivers it to prison officials for mailing. See, e.g., Garvey v. Vaughn, 993 F.2d 776, 783 (11th Cir. 1993). Absent evidence to the contrary, it is assumed that a document is delivered to prison authorities on the date the prisoner signed it. Washington v. United States, 243 F.3d 1299, 1301 (11th Cir. 2001) (per curiam).
The Recast Petition confirms that Petitioner is challenging his 2016 conviction and sentence from the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia. Recast Pet. 1, ECF No. 12. A state prisoner may file a habeas petition in the district where the prisoner was convicted or in the district where the prisoner is confined. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). The Georgia district courts have a long-standing policy of hearing § 2254 petitions in the district where the petitioner was convicted. See Eagle v. Linahan, 279 F.3d 926, 933 n.9 (11th Cir. 2001). Chatham County is located in the Southern District of Georgia. 28 U.S.C. § 90(c)(3). The Clerk of Court is therefore ORDERED to transfer this action, including all pending motions, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Savannah Division. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) (authorizing district court to “dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district . . . in which it could have been brought”).
SO ORDERED.