Polk Jr v. State of Nevada

District Court, D. Nevada

Polk Jr v. State of Nevada

Trial Court Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 GERALD JEROME POLK, JR., Case No.: 2:20-cv-01636-APG-NJK

4 Petitioner Order 5 v.

6 STATE OF NEVADA, et al.,

7 Respondents

8 9 Petitioner Gerald Jerome Polk, Jr. has submitted a pro se petition for writ of habeas 10 corpus under

28 U.S.C. § 2254

. ECF No. 1-1. However, Polk has failed to submit an application 11 to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the filing fee. Accordingly, this matter has not been 12 properly commenced. See

28 U.S.C. § 1915

(a)(2) and Local Rule LSR1-2. 13 Thus, the present action will be dismissed without prejudice. Polk may file a new 14 petition in a new action, but he must include either the $5.00 filing fee or a completed 15 application to proceed in forma pauperis on the proper form with both an inmate account 16 statement for the past six months and a properly executed financial certificate. 17 The present petition appears to be unexhausted. Polk is warned that a federal court will 18 not grant a state prisoner’s petition for habeas relief until the prisoner has exhausted available 19 state remedies for all claims raised. Rose v. Lundy,

455 U.S. 509

(1982);

28 U.S.C. § 2254

(b). A 20 petitioner must give the state courts a fair opportunity to act on each of the claims before she or 21 he presents those claims in a federal habeas petition. O’Sullivan v. Boerckel,

526 U.S. 838

, 844 22 (1999); see also Duncan v. Henry,

513 U.S. 364, 365

(1995). A claim remains unexhausted until 23 the petitioner has given the highest available state court the opportunity to consider the claim 1} through direct appeal or state collateral review proceedings. See Casey v. Moore,

386 F.3d 896, 211916

(9th Cir. 2004); Garrison v. McCarthey,

653 F.2d 374, 376

(9th Cir. 1981). 3 Polk states that he filed a state postconviction habeas corpus petition in January 2020. The state-court docket appears to reflect that Polk’s state postconviction petition is pending in state court. Thus, he has not yet exhausted his state-court remedies. Further, the decision on his 6]| state petition could render this action moot. 7 This federal petition is dismissed without prejudice as improperly commenced. It does not appear from the papers presented that a dismissal without prejudice will materially affect a later analysis of any timeliness issue with regard to a new action filed in a timely manner. Polk remains responsible for properly exhausting his claims, for calculating the running of the federal 11]| limitation period as applied to his case, and for properly commencing a timely-filed federal 12|| habeas action. 13 I THEREFORE ORDER the Clerk to detach and file the petition (ECF No. 1-1). 14 I FURTHER ORDER that the petition is DISMISSED without prejudice. 15 I FURTHER ORDER that a certificate of appealability is DENIED. 16 I FURTHER ORDER the Clerk to SEND Polk two copies each of an application form to 17|| proceed in forma pauperis for incarcerated persons and a noncapital Section 2254 habeas 18]| petition form, one copy of the instructions for each form, and a copy of the papers that he submitted in this action. 20 I FURTHER ORDER the Clerk to enter judgment accordingly and close this case. 21 Dated: October 27, 2020. 22 U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon 23

Reference

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