Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:14-CV-319
08-04-2014
GERSOM SANCHEZ, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM STEPHENS, Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF TRANSFER
This is a habeas action filed on July 31, 2014, by a state prisoner incarcerated at the Garza East Unit in Beeville, Texas, which is located in Bee County. (DE 1). In his complaint, Petitioner challenges his state conviction and his sentence. (DE 1).
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 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 Guadalupe County in the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas. 28 U.S.C. § 124(d)(4).
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 Guadalupe County, it is more convenient and would further the interests of justice for this action to be handled in the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas. The records of his conviction and the prosecutor and defense lawyers are all located in the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas.
Accordingly, it is ordered that this case be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division.
ORDERED this 4th day of August, 2014.
/s/________
NELVA GONZALES RAMOS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE