UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Christopher Vass, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) Civil Action No. 20-773 (UNA) ) ) Ronald Brawner, ) ) Respondent. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Petitioner, appearing pro se, is a Georgia state prisoner incarcerated in Hardwick, Georgia.

He has filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis and a “Petition Under

for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody” [Dkt. # 1]. For the following reasons,

this case will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

Petitioner is challenging his conviction in the Dekalb County Superior Court in Decatur,

Georgia. Pet. ¶ 1. Section 2254 requires that a petitioner first exhaust his available state remedies.

See

(b)(1). Thereafter, an application under § 2254 “may be filed in the district

court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district [where]

the State court was held which convicted and sentenced [petitioner][,] and each of such district

courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application.”

(d). Since

this court in the District of Columbia lacks authority to entertain the instant petition, it will dismiss

the case. A separate order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

_________s/_____________ AMY BERMAN JACKSON Date: April 14, 2020 United States District Judge