Simon v. King County RJC

Full title: CLIFFORD WARREN SIMON, Petitioner, v. KING COUNTY RJC, Respondent

Court: United States District Court, W.D. Washington, at Seattle

Date published: Jan 21, 2003

Case No. C02-1980Z (W.D. Wash. Jan. 21, 2003)

Opinion

Case No. C02-1980Z

January 21, 2003

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

MONICA J. BENTON, United States Magistrate Judge

I. Background

Petitioner was charged in the State of Missouri with the crime of Driving While Intoxicated ("DWI"), then he fled to Washington (Dkt. #7, Ex. 1). On July 5, 2002, petitioner was arrested in King County (Did #7, Ex. 2). On September 10, 2002, a Governor's Warrant for petitioner's arrest and extradition to the State of Missouri was issued and executed. (Did. #7, Ex. 1). On September 19, 2002, petitioner filed this petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Did. #1). On September 26, 2002, petitioner was transferred to Missouri. (Dkt. #7, Ex. 2).

As of November 20, 2002, this Court had received no Answer from respondent, and thus ordered respondent to show cause why the petition should not be granted. In response, respondent argued that the petition should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that petitioner's challenges were moot. This Court issued a minute order construing respondent's response as a motion to dismiss and granting petitioner the opportunity to respond to the motion. The Court has received no such response from petitioner

II. Discussion

It appears that the petition for habeas corpus challenges petitioner's original DWI conviction, as well as the sufficiency of the extradition proceedings held in King County. However, petitioner is no longer detained in Washington, and he is not challenging a conviction or sentence imposed by a Washington court. The power of a federal district court to issue a writ of habeas corpus is limited to its territorial jurisdiction. Sholars v. Matter, 491 F.2d 279, 281 (9^th Cir 1974). In turn, the contested custody and the custodian must be found within the court's territorial jurisdiction. Id. Because petitioner is no longer in custody in the state of Washington, this Court does not have jurisdiction to consider his petition

III. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, I recommend that the petition (Dkt. #1) be denied and that this action be dismissed without prejudice. A proposed order accompanies this Report and Recommendation.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE

CLIFFORD WARREN SIMON, | | Petitioner, | CASE NO. C02-1980Z | v. | | KING COUNTY RJC, | ORDER | Respondent. | | __________________________|

The Court, having reviewed the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable Monica J. Benton, United States Magistrate Judge, and the remaining record, finds and Orders as follows:

(1) The Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation;

(2) Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Dkt. #1) is DENIED; and this matter is DISMISSED without prejudice;

(3) The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to Petitioner, counsel for Respondent, and to the Honorable Monica J. Benton

DATED this ____________ day of _____________, 2003.

_________________________________ THOMAS S. ZILLY United States District Court Judge

JUDGMENT IN A CIVIL CASE

Decision by Court This action came to consideration before the Court. The issues have been considered and a decision has been rendered.