Opinion
1:19-cv-00745-DAD
12-20-2021
ROBERT WESLEY COWAN, Petitioner, v. RONALD DAVIS, Warden of San Quentin State Prison, Respondent.
ORDER (1) GRANTING PETITIONER'S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE RESPONDENT, AND (2) DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE COURT TO SUBSTITUTE THE NAME OF WARDEN BRIAN CATES FOR WARDEN RONALD DAVIS AS NAMED RESPONDENT
On December 8, 2021, petitioner Robert Wesley Cowan, through appointed counsel Assistant Federal Defenders Jennifer Mann and Alyssa Mack, moved to substitute Brian Cates, the Warden of the California Correctional Institution, as the respondent in this action in place of Ronald Davis, the Warden of San Quentin State Prison.
Counsel for petitioner advise that counsel for respondent, Deputy Attorney General Lewis Martinez, has no objection to the motion.
The court, having reviewed petitioner's motion, the record, and the controlling law, will grant substitution of Warden Brian Cates as named respondent, as discussed below.
A petition for writ of habeas corpus by an applicant in custody under a state court judgment shall name as respondent the state officer who has custody. 28 U.S.C. § 2242; Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule 2(a); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d) (providing for the automatic substitution of a successor public officer for a predecessor public officer named as a party in an official capacity). A failure to name the proper respondent destroys personal jurisdiction. Stanley v. California Supreme Court, 21 F.3d 359, 360 (9th Cir. 1994); see also Johnson v. Reilly, 349 F.3d 1149, 1153 (9th Cir. 2003) (the warden of the penitentiary where a prisoner is confined constitutes the custodian who must be named in the petition)
Petitioner was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison at the time the initial petition was filed. (Doc. No. 1; Doc. No. 5; Doc. No. 29 at 28.) Petitioner named the warden of that institution as respondent. (Doc. No. 29 at 1.) Counsel aver that petitioner now has been transferred to the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California (“CCI”) and is in the custody of the warden of that institution, Brian Cates. (Doc. No. 47 at 1.) The court takes notice that the official website of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) reflects: (i) the present warden of CCI is Brian Cates, and (ii) petitioner is presently incarcerated at CCI. Fed.R.Evid. 201; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Inmate Locator, https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/Results.aspx (last visited December 11, 2021).
The court's jurisdiction over this proceeding is unaffected by petitioner's transfer to CCI. Petitioner claims that in the course of the proceedings resulting in his conviction, he suffered violations of his Constitutional rights. (Doc. No. 41.) The challenged judgment was rendered by the Kern County Superior Court of the State of California, which is located within the territorial jurisdiction of this court. (Doc. No. 41 at 30); 28 U.S.C. §§ 84(b), 2241(a), (d), 2254(a); Local Rules for the Eastern District of California, Rule 191(f); see also Francis v. Rison, 894 F.2d 353, 354 (9th Cir.1990) (citing Smith v. Campbell, 450 F.2d 829, 834 (9th Cir.1971)) (“[J]urisdiction attaches on the initial filing for habeas corpus relief, and it is not destroyed by a transfer of the petitioner and the accompanying custodial change.”).
Accordingly, petitioner's motion to substitute Brian Cates, the Warden of the California Correctional Institution, as respondent in place of Ronald Davis, the Warden of San Quentin State Prison (Doc. No. 47), is granted. The Clerk of the Court is directed to substitute the name of Warden Brian Cates for Warden Ronald Davis as the named respondent in this action.
IT IS SO ORDERED.