Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 17-0518-BAJ-EWD
01-11-2018
STEVEN R. WILLIAMS (#467193) v. LYNDA VAN DAVIS, ET AL.
NOTICE
Please take notice that the attached Magistrate Judge's Report has been filed with the Clerk of the United States District Court.
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), you have fourteen (14) days after being served with the attached Report to file written objections to the proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations therein. Failure to file written objections to the proposed findings, conclusions, and recommendations within 14 days after being served will bar you, except upon grounds of plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected-to proposed factual findings and legal conclusions of the Magistrate Judge which have been accepted by the District Court.
ABSOLUTELY NO EXTENSION OF TIME SHALL BE GRANTED TO FILE WRITTEN OBJECTIONS TO THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 11, 2018.
/s/ _________
ERIN WILDER-DOOMES
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Pro se Plaintiff, an inmate confined at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana, filed the instant Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against criminal defense attorney Lynda Van Davis and Orleans Parish City Councilman Jason Roger Williams, complaining regarding the alleged denial of due process in connection with the manner in which his criminal proceedings were conducted in 2005 in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1) and (2), a civil action may generally be brought in a judicial district in which any defendant resides or in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred. Further, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a), a case filed in a Court of improper or inconvenient venue may be transferred, in the interest of justice and for the convenience of the parties and witnesses, to a district in which it could have been brought. In the instant case, although Plaintiff is currently confined in the Middle District of Louisiana, he complains regarding events that occurred entirely in the Eastern District. Inasmuch as Defendants and the principal witnesses related to Plaintiff's claims may be located in the Eastern District, the Court believes that it is in the interest of justice to transfer this case to the Eastern District of Louisiana where the evidence and witnesses will more likely be easily located and produced.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that this matter be transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana for further proceedings. It is further recommended that a determination regarding Plaintiff's entitlement to proceed as a pauper herein be deferred to the transferee court for resolution and disposition.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 11, 2018.
/s/ _________
ERIN WILDER-DOOMES
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE