(HC) Aguilar v. Cates

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MIGUEL C. AGUILAR, Case No. 1:21-cv-00752-HBK

Petitioner, ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE TO THE

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA v. (Doc. No. 1)

B. CATES,

Respondent.

Petitioner is proceeding on his petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 18 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. No. 1). Petitioner, a prisoner incarcerated in Kern County, which is located within the jurisdiction and venue of this court’s Fresno Division, challenges his April 20, 2017 state sentence and conviction entered by the Superior Court of San Diego, which is located within the jurisdiction and venue of the San Diego Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), jurisdiction is proper in the judicial district where the petitioner was convicted or where the petitioner is incarcerated. Therefore, both the Southern District of California and the Eastern District of California have concurrent jurisdiction. See 28 26 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 428 (2004). However, “[f]or 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. § 1 | 1404(a). Federal courts in California generally hear petitions for writ of habeas corpus in the district of conviction. Favor v. California, No. 116-CV-01912-DAD-EPG-HC, 2017 WL 3 | 2671006, at *1 (E.D. Cal. June 21, 2017) (citing Laue v. Nelson, 279 F. Supp. 265, 266 (N.D. Cal. 1968).

Thus, the court finds in its discretion “and in furtherance of justice” the petition should be transferred to the Southern District of California. 28 U.S.C. $§ 1404(a), 2241(d).

Accordingly:

1. The Clerk shall transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego Division; and

2. All future filings shall reference the new case number assigned and shall be filed at: United States District Court

Southern District of California

San Diego Division

333 West Broadway

San Diego, CA 92101

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: _ May 12, 2021 Mila Nh. fareh Zackte

HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE