Opinion
CASE NO. 3:18 CV 2729
03-01-2019
WILLIAM SILKNITTER, Petitioner, v. JAMES HAVILAND, Respondent.
MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER
Petitioner filed the above-captioned Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2254. Petitioner is incarcerated in the Allen Correctional Institution ("ACI") challenges the judgment of conviction entered by the Union County Court of Common Pleas. Union County is within Ohio's Southern Federal Judicial District. ACI is located within Ohio's Northern Federal Judicial District. Because Petitioner challenges the conviction of a state court within the Southern District of Ohio, but is in custody in the Northern District of Ohio, both Districts have concurrent jurisdiction over the action. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d).
This Court has the discretion to transfer this action to the Southern District for hearing and determination. Id. A transfer to the Southern District is appropriate in this case, because it is the more convenient forum and the evidence is more readily accessible in the district where Petitioner was convicted. See Bell v. Watkins, 692 F.2d 999, 1013 (5th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 843 (1983); see also, Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Ky., 410 U.S. 484, 497 n.13 (1973).
Accordingly, this action is hereby TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Dan Aaron Polster 3/1/2019
DAN AARON POLSTER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE