Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 9:20cv27
04-06-2020
GRAHAM NEAL LAND v. DIRECTOR, TDCJ-CID
MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING TRANSFER
Petitioner Graham Neal Land, an inmate confined at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, proceeding pro se, brings this petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
The above-styled action was referred to the undersigned magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and the Local Rules for the Assignment of Duties to the United States Magistrate Judge for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations for the disposition of the case.
Discussion
On December 7, 2016, in the 5th District Court of Cass County, Texas, petitioner was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Petitioner was sentenced to a term of forty-five years' imprisonment. Petitioner brings this petition contesting his conviction.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), a petitioner may bring his petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district within which he was convicted. Section 2241(d) further provides that the district court in the exercise of its discretion may transfer the action to the other district in the furtherance of justice.
Petitioner was convicted and sentenced in Cass County which is located in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Thus, jurisdiction is proper in the Eastern District of Texas. However, the petition was inadvertently filed in the Lufkin Division instead of the Marshall Division.
While jurisdiction is proper in the Eastern District of Texas, the court has considered the circumstances and has determined that the interest of justice would best be served if this petition were transferred to the division in which the petitioner was convicted.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it could have been brought. Such a transfer may be done sua sponte and is reviewable only for an abuse of discretion. Mills v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 886 F.2d 758, 761 (5th Cir. 1989).
Since petitioner complains of a conviction which occurred in the Marshall Division, all records and witnesses involving this action most likely will be located in the Marshall Division. Thus, the transfer of this action to such division would further justice. Therefore, it is the opinion of the undersigned that this petition should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. An Order of Transfer so providing shall be entered in accordance with this Memorandum Opinion.
SIGNED this the 6th day of April, 2020.
/s/_________
KEITH F. GIBLIN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE