Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:14-CV-200
06-04-2014
ANTOINE VERDELL RACHELL, Petitioner, v. STATE, Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF TRANSFER
This is a habeas action filed by a state prisoner incarcerated at TDCJ-CID's Garza East Unit in Beeville, Texas (D.E. 1). Petitioner challenges a 2013 felony conviction and sentence imposed by the 338th District Court in Harris County, Texas (Id.).
A habeas action may be filed either in the district where petitioner is in custody or in the district in which petitioner was convicted. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wadsworth v. Johnson, 235 F.3d 959 (5th Cir. 2000). Petitioner's place of incarceration is in Bee County in the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas, 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(6), and he was convicted by a court located in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(2).
For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a). A habeas application may be transferred in furtherance of justice to the district court within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced the petitioner. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Because petitioner was convicted in Harris County, it is more convenient and would further the interests of justice for this action to be handled in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. The records of his conviction, the prosecutor and defense lawyer, and the witnesses are all located in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.
Accordingly, it is ordered that the Clerk of the Court TRANSFER this action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. All pending motions are denied as moot and subject to renewal after the case is transferred.
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NELVA GONZALES RAMOS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE