1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GEORGE O’CONNOR, Case No. 2:25-cv-00943-DC-CSK 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT WATSON’S MOTION TO TRANSFER 14 ONE UNNAMED AGENT OF THE VENUE AND TRANSFERRING ACTION FEDERAL BUREAU OF 15 INVESTIGATION WITH THE (ECF No. 7) MONIKER “CHARLIE”, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff George O’Connor proceeds in this action pro se.1 Pending before the 19 Court is Defendant Winfred N. Watson’s2 motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for 20 dismissal or transfer of venue. Def. Mot. (ECF No. 7.) On May 6, 2025, the Court found 21 Defendant’s motion suitable for decision without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 22 230(g) and vacated the hearing. (ECF No. 27.) On May 14, 2025, Plaintiff filed a late 23 opposition, which the Court will consider in its review of Defendant’s motion because 24 Defendant Watson was able to respond to the late opposition. Pl. Opp’n (ECF No. 32);

25 1 This matter proceeds before the undersigned pursuant to

, Fed. R. 26 Civ. P. 72, and Local Rule 302(c). 2 Defendant Winfred N. Watson indicates in his motion he has been erroneously 27 named as Rocky Watson Esq. Def. Mot. (ECF No. 7-1 at 1, 7). The Court will direct the Clerk of the Court to update the docket to reflect the correct spelling for this defendant as 28 Winfred N. Watson. 1 Def. Reply (ECF No. 34). On May 16, 2025, Defendant Watson filed a reply. For the 2 reasons that follow, the Court orders that Defendant Watson’s motion to transfer venue 3 pursuant to

is GRANTED, transferring this action to the Northern 4 District of Alabama. The Court declines to reach the merits of Defendant Watson’s 5 motion to dismiss and instructs Defendant Watson to contact the assigned chambers in 6 the transferee or receiving court for further direction regarding resolution of the motion to 7 dismiss. 8 I. MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE 9 A. Legal Standard 10 The general federal venue statute pursuant to

(b) provides that a 11 civil action “may be brought in (1) a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all 12 defendants are residents of the State in which the district is located; (2) a judicial district 13 in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or 14 a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) if there is 15 no district in which an action may otherwise be brought as provided in this section, any 16 judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with 17 respect to such action.” If a court determines the appropriate venue for a case lies in 18 another division or district, the court “shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, 19 transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” 20

(a). Even if venue is proper, a court may transfer an action to another 21 district under

(a) “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the 22 interest of justice.” 23 B. Discussion 24 Defendant Watson argues that venue does not lie in the Eastern District of 25 California because all defendants and relevant witnesses are located in the Northern 26 District of Alabama, and all the alleged events also took place in the Northern District of 27 Alabama. Def. Mot. at 6-7. Plaintiff opposes the transfer based on “potential jurors and 28 others” may be “influenced by Defendants and their associates.” Pl. Opp’n at 13. The 1 Court finds that venue does not properly lie in the Eastern District of California. There is 2 no defendant that is a resident of this district for the purpose of determining venue. In 3 addition, the real property that is the subject of the dispute is located at 1900 County 4 Road 81, Flat Rock, AL 35966. See Compl. at 116-122 (ECF No. 1). Finally, the 5 Complaint’s allegations do not establish that “a substantial part of the events or 6 omissions giving rise to the claim occurred” in this district.

(b)(2). The 7 Complaint alleges Plaintiff was defrauded by Defendants into purchasing real property in 8 Alabama. See generally Compl. Although Plaintiff asserts the real property purchase 9 agreement was entered into in California, Plaintiff’s allegations regarding fraud and 10 harassment to “run [Plaintiff] off” the real property appear to stem from incidents that 11 occurred exclusively in Jackson County, Alabama. See Compl. at 5-8. This is insufficient 12 to establish that venue in the Eastern District of California is proper. Because the Court 13 has determined that venue is not proper in the Eastern District of California, the case 14 must be dismissed or transferred under

(a). Here, Defendants and the 15 real property, which is the subject of the dispute, are in the Northern District of Alabama. 16 Even if venue could lie in this district, the Court finds in the interest of justice, the 17 Northern District of Alabama is a more appropriate venue “for the convenience of the 18 parties and witnesses” and because a substantial part of the events giving rise to the 19 claim also took place within that forum.

(a). Therefore, the Court 20 transfers this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of 21 Alabama pursuant to

(a), or in the alternative,

(a). In 22 transferring this action, this Court expresses no opinion regarding the merits of Plaintiff’s 23 claims, the other grounds raised in Defendant’s Watson’s motion to dismiss, or the other 24 pending motions to dismiss. 25 II. PENDING MOTIONS TO DISMISS 26 The following motions to dismiss have been filed in this action: Defendant 27 Watson’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 7); Defendants County of Jackson, Alabama, and 28 the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 11); Defendants 1 Bryan Hilton and Kay Ivey’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 16); Defendant Jeffrey 2 McLaughlin, Esq.’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 18); Defendant Timothy Wells’ motion to 3 dismiss (ECF No. 19); Defendant Kathy Wells’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 20); and 4 Defendants Peoples Independent Bank and Melodi Johnson’s motion to dismiss (ECF 5 No. 35). Because this Court has determined that venue does not properly lie in the 6 Eastern District of California and that the interests of justice would be served by 7 transferring the matter to the Northern District of Alabama, the Court declines to reach 8 the merits of the pending motions to dismiss (ECF Nos. 7, 11, 16, 18-20, 35). See 9 Chaker v. Becerra,

, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 4, 2021) (citing to Fitbit, Inc. 10 v. Koninklijke Philips N.V.,

, 588 (N.D. Cal. 2020) (declining to reach 11 defendant's motion to dismiss after granting motion to transfer); Sam Kholi Enterprises, 12 Inc. v. Comsys Services LLC,

, at *10 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 3, 2011). Once 13 the case has been transferred, the parties should contact the assigned chambers for 14 further direction regarding resolution of the pending motions to dismiss. See Sam Kholi 15 Enterprises, Inc.,

, at *10. 16 III. CONCLUSION 17 In conclusion, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 18 1. The Clerk of the Court is directed to update the docket to reflect that the 19 correct name for Defendant Rocky Watson Esq. is Winfred N. Watson; 20 2. Defendant Watson’s motion to transfer venue (ECF No. 7) is GRANTED 21 TRANSFERRING the action to the United States District Court for the 22 Northern District of Alabama; 23 3. The Court declines to reach the merits of Defendant Watson’s motion to 24 dismiss (ECF No. 7), Defendants County of Alabama, and Jackson County 25 Sheriff’s Department’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 11), Defendant Hilton 26 and Ivey’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 16), Defendant McLaughlin’s motion 27 to dismiss (ECF No. 18), Defendant Wells’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 19), 28 Defendant Wells’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 20), and Defendant Peoples 1 Independent Bank and Johnson's motion to dismiss (ECF No. 35) in light of 2 the transfer; 3 4. All previously set deadlines and hearings are VACATED; and 4 5. The Clerk of the Court is directed to CLOSE this action. 5 6 | Dated: May 21, 2025 C iy S \U CHI SOO KIM 8 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 || 4, ocon0943.25 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28