Opinion
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02588-BNB
11-05-2012
JONATHAN NEAL JARNIG, Applicant, v. JOSEPH DRIVER, and THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF ALASKA, Respondents.
ORDER OF TRANSFER
Applicant, Jonathan Neal Jarnig, currently is incarcerated at the correctional center in Hudson, Colorado. He submitted to the Court pro se an amended application pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 6). He paid the $5.00 filing fee (ECF No. 5) for a habeas corpus action.
The Court must construe Mr. Jarnig's filings liberally because he is representing himself. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). However, the Court should not be the pro se litigant's advocate. Hall, 935 F.2d at 1110. For the reasons stated below, the amended application will be transferred.
Mr. Jarnig's amended application attacks his conviction in superior court of Anchorage, Alaska, Case No. 3AN-06-12798CR, on state charges of misconduct involving a controlled substance. As relief, Mr. Jarnig apparently seeks release from his Alaska state sentence. He appears to have filed the application in this Court because he currently is incarcerated in the District of Colorado.
Because Mr. Jarnig is challenging his conviction in Anchorage, Alaska, state court, venue is improper in this Court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). The proper venue for a challenge to Mr. Jarnig's conviction lies in the district in which he originally was convicted. Therefore, the action will be transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, 222 West 7th Avenue, #4, Anchorage, Alaska 99513. In the interest of justice, a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district to the correct district. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the habeas corpus application and the action is transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, 222 West 7th Avenue, #4, Anchorage, Alaska 99513.
DATED at Denver, Colorado, this 5th day of November, 2012.
BY THE COURT:
________________________
LEWIS T. BABCOCK, Senior Judge
United States District Court