Opinion
NO. CV 09-00234 GAF (SS).
March 11, 2009
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS AND ALLOWING THIRTY DAYS LEAVE TO AMEND
On January 12, 2009, Petitioner, a California state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (the "Petition") pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 with this Court. On February 25, 2009 Respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss ("Motion") on the grounds that Petition was unverified. For the reasons discussed below, the Motion is granted and the Court provides thirty days leave to amend.
The filing of a petition for writ of habeas corpus is analogous to the filing of a civil complaint. Williams v. Coyle, 167 F.3d 1036, 1038 (6th Cir. 1999). Magistrate Judges may dismiss a complaint with leave to amend without approval of the District Judge. McKeever v. Block, 932 F.2d 795, 798 (9th Cir. 1991).
The Petition must be dismissed because it is unsigned. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2242, an application for a writ of habeas corpus "shall be in writing signed and verified by the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting in his behalf." In addition, Rule 2(c) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Court requires that the petition be signed under penalty of perjury by the petitioner.
The Court "may refuse to file, or may dismiss, an unsigned and unverified petition." Hendricks v. Vasquez, 908 F.2d 490, 491 (9th Cir. 1990) (citations omitted). Accordingly, the Petition is dismissed with leave to amend. Should Petitioner wish to file a First Amended Petition, he is advised to sign and verify the amended petition. Cf. Id. at 492 (Ninth Circuit reversed summary dismissal of petition that was not signed and verified for other reasons and then added, "On remand, Hendricks should sign and verify his habeas petition.").
If Petitioner wishes to pursue this action, he must file a First Amended Petition within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order, using the form approved by the Central District. A copy of the standard form for habeas petitions is attached for Petitioner's use. The First Amended Petition shall be complete in itself and shall bear both the designation "First Amended Petition" and the case number assigned to this action. It shall not refer in any manner to the original Petition. A copy of the original Petition will be returned to Petitioner should he wish to refer to it. Petitioner is explicitly cautioned that failure to timely file a First Amended Petition will result in a recommendation that this action be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
If Petitioner does not wish to pursue this action further and instead wishes to voluntarily dismiss the Petition himself, he may do so by simply submitting a Notice of Dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a). A copy of that form is also attached should Petitioner desire to use it.
IT IS SO ORDERED. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Include name under which you were convicted AMENDED PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS BY A PERSON IN STATE CUSTODY 28 U.S.C. § 2254 List by case number
_______________________________________________ NAME _______________________________________________ PRISON IDENTIFICATION/BOOKING NO. _______________________________________________ ADDRESS OR PLACE OF CONFINEMENT _______________________________________________ Note: It is your responsibility to notify the Clerk of Court in writing of any change of address. If represented by an attorney, provide his name, address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and e-mail address. CASE NUMBER: CV _________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ To be supplied by the Clerk of the United States District Court FULL NAME () Petitioner, _______________________________________________________________________ v. ___________________________________ ______________________________________________ NAME OF WARDEN, SUPERINTENDENT, JAILOR OR AUTHORIZED PERSON HAVING CUSTODY OF PETITIONER Respondent. PLACE/COUNTY OF CONVICTION __________________________________________ PREVIOUSLY FILED, RELATED CASES IN THIS DISTRICT COURT () CV _________________________________________________________________ CV _________________________________________________________________INSTRUCTIONS — PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
1. To use this form, you must be a person who either is currently serving a sentence under a judgment against you in a California state court, or will be serving a sentence in the future under a judgment against you in a California state court. You are asking for relief from the conviction and/or the sentence. This form is your petition for relief.2. In this petition, you may challenge the judgment entered by only one California state court. If you want to challenge the judgment entered by a different California state court, you must file a separate petition.
3. Make sure the form is typed or neatly handwritten. You must tell the truth and sign the form. If you make a false statement of a material fact, you may be prosecuted for perjury.
4. Answer all the questions. You do not need to cite case law, but you do need to state the federal legal theory and operative facts in support of each ground. You may submit additional pages if necessary. If you do not fill out the form properly, you will be asked to submit additional or correct information. If you want to submit a legal brief or arguments, you may attach a separate memorandum.
5. You must include in this petition all the grounds for relief from the conviction and/or sentence that you challenge. And you must state the facts that support each ground. If you fail to set forth all the grounds in this petition, you may be barred from presenting additional grounds at a later date.
6. You must pay a fee of $5.00. If the fee is paid, your petition will be filed. If you cannot afford the fee, you may ask to proceed in forma pauperis (as a poor person). To do that, you must fill out and sign the declaration of the last two pages of the form. Also, you must have an authorized officer at the penal institution complete the certificate as to the amount of money and securities on deposit to your credit in any account at the institution. If your prison account exceeds $25.00, you must pay the filing fee.
7. When you have completed the form, send the original and two copies to the following address:
Clerk of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
United States Courthouse
ATTN: Intake/Docket Section
312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, California 90012Check appropriate number PETITION (a separate petition must be filed for each conviction being attacked). (include all counts) (check one) (check one) (and attach a copy of the Court of Appeal decision if available) (list each) (and attach copies of the Petition for Review and the Supreme Court ruling if available) (list each) (use additional pages if necessary, and attach copies of the petitions and the rulings on the petitions if available) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) facts CAUTION Exhaustion Requirement all (use additional pages if necessary, and attach copies of the petitions and the rulings on the petitions if available) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) (and attach a copy of the petition if available) (or if mailed, the date the petition was turned over to the prison authorities for mailing) (list each) Signature of Attorney (if any) Date Signature of Petitioner PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING: () This petition concerns: 1. a conviction and/or sentence. 2. prison discipline. 3. a parole problem. 4. other. 1. Venue a. Place of detention __________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Place of conviction and sentence ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Conviction on which the petition is based a. Nature of offenses involved : ____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Penal or other code section or sections: ____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Case number: __________________________________________________ d. Date of conviction: ___________________________________________ e. Date of sentence: _____________________________________________ f. Length of sentence on each count: ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ g. Plea : Not guilty Guilty Nolo contendere h. Kind of trial : Jury Judge only 3. Did you appeal to the California Court of Appeal from the judgment of conviction? Yes No If so, give the following information for your appeal : a. Case number: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Grounds raised : (1) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (4) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (6) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Date of decision: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ d. Result ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. If you did appeal, did you also file a Petition for Review with the California Supreme Court of the Court of Appeal decision? Yes No If so give the following information : a. Case number: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Grounds raised : (1) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (4) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (6) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Date of decision: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ d. Result ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. If you did not appeal: a. State your reasons __________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Did you seek permission to file a late appeal? Yes No 6. Have you previously filed any habeas petitions in any state court with respect to this judgment of conviction? Yes No If so, give the following information for each such petition : a. (1) Name of court: __________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) Date of decision: _______________________________________________________________________________________ (6) Result __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (7) Was an evidentiary hearing held? Yes No b. (1) Name of court: __________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) Date of decision: ______________________________________________________________________________________ (6) Result __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (7) Was an evidentiary hearing held? Yes No c. (1) Name of court: __________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) Date of decision: _______________________________________________________________________________________ (6) Result __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (7) Was an evidentiary hearing held? Yes No 7. For this petition, state every ground on which you claim that you are being held in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. Attach additional pages if you have more than five grounds. Summarize briefly the supporting each ground. For example, if you are claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, you must state facts specifically setting forth what your attorney did or failed to do. : : In order to proceed in federal court, you must ordinarily first exhaust your state court remedies with respect to each ground on which you are requesting relief from the federal court. This means that, prior to seeking relief from the federal court, you first must present of your grounds to the California Supreme Court. a. Ground one: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Supporting FACTS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Did you raise this claim on direct appeal to the California Court of Appeal? Yes No (3) Did you raise this claim in a Petition for Review to the California Supreme Court? Yes No (4) Did you raise this claim in a habeas petition to the California Supreme Court? Yes No b. Ground two: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Supporting FACTS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Did you raise this claim on direct appeal to the California Court of Appeal? Yes No (3) Did you raise this claim in a Petition for Review to the California Supreme Court? Yes No (4) Did you raise this claim in a habeas petition to the California Supreme Court? Yes No c. Ground three: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Supporting FACTS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Did you raise this claim on direct appeal to the California Court of Appeal? Yes No (3) Did you raise this claim in a Petition for Review to the California Supreme Court? Yes No (4) Did you raise this claim in a habeas petition to the California Supreme Court? Yes No d. Ground four: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Supporting FACTS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Did you raise this claim on direct appeal to the California Court of Appeal? Yes No (3) Did you raise this claim in a Petition for Review to the California Supreme Court? Yes No (4) Did you raise this claim in a habeas petition to the California Supreme Court? Yes No e. Ground five: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Supporting FACTS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Did you raise this claim on direct appeal to the California Court of Appeal? Yes No (3) Did you raise this claim in a Petition for Review to the California Supreme Court? Yes No (4) Did you raise this claim in a habeas petition to the California Supreme Court? Yes No 8. If any of the grounds listed in paragraph 7 were not previously presented to the California Supreme Court, state briefly which grounds were not presented, and give your reasons: ________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Have you previously filed any habeas petitions in any federal court with respect to this judgment of conviction? Yes No If so, give the following information for each such petition : a. (1) Name of court: ________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: __________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) Date of decision: _____________________________________________________________________________________ (6) Result ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (7) Was an evidentiary hearing held? Yes No b. (1) Name of court: ________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: __________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (5) Date of decision: _____________________________________________________________________________________ (6) Result ________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (7) Was an evidentiary hearing held? Yes No 10. Do you have any petitions now pending (i.e., filed but not yet decided) in any state or federal court with respect to this judgment of conviction? Yes No If so, give the following information : (1) Name of court: _________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) Case number: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ (3) Date filed : _______________ (4) Grounds raised : (a) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (e) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ (f) _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Are you presently represented by counsel? Yes No If so, provide name, address and telephone number: ______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WHEREFORE, petitioner prays that the Court grant petitioner relief to which he may be entitled in this proceeding, ______________________________________________________________________________ I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on ____________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ DECLARATION IN SUPPORT Petitioner OF REQUEST TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS Respondent(s) ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ I, ______________________________________________, declare that I am the petitioner in the above entitled case; that in support of my motion to proceed without being required to prepay fees, costs or give security therefor, I state that because of my poverty I am unable to pay the costs of said proceeding or to give security therefor; that I believe I am entitled to relief. (Include any funds in prison accounts) (Excluding ordinary household furnishings and clothing) Date Signature of Petitioner 1. Are you presently employed? Yes No a. If the answer is yes, state the amount of your salary or wages per month, and give the name and address of your employer. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. If the answer is no, state the date of last employment and the amount of the salary and wages per month which you received. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Have you received, within the past twelve months, any money from any of the following sources? a. Business, profession or form of self-employment? Yes No b. Rent payments, interest or dividends? Yes No c. Pensions, annuities or life insurance payments? Yes No d. Gifts or inheritances? Yes No e. Any other sources? Yes No If the answer to any of the above is yes, describe each source of money and state the amount received from each during the past twelve months: ____________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Do you own any cash, or do you have money in a checking or savings account? Yes No If the answer is yes, state the total value of the items owned: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Do you own any real estate, stocks, bonds, notes, automobiles, or other valuable property? Yes No If the answer is yes, describe the property and state its approximate value: ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. List the persons who are dependent upon you for support, state your relationship to those persons, and indicate how much you contribute toward their support: _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I, declare (or certify, verify or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on _____________________________ ___________________________________________________________