1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6 * * *

7 KEENAN WATKINS, Case No. 2:24-cv-01100-RFB-DJA

8 Petitioner, SCHEDULING ORDER

9 v.

10 JEREMY BEAN,

11 Defendants.

12 13 On October 22, 2024, this Court granted Petitioner Keenan Watkins’s motion for 14 appointment of counsel, provisionally appointed the Federal Public Defender, and gave the Federal 15 Public Defender 30 days to (1) undertake direct representation of Watkins by filing a notice of 16 appearance or (2) indicate the office’s inability to represent Watkins in these proceedings. (ECF 17 No. 3.) On November 19, 2024, the Federal Public Defender timely filed their notice of 18 19 appearance. ECF No. 7. 20 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Federal Public Defender, through Jonathan 21 Kirshbaum, Esq., is appointed as counsel for Watkins pursuant to

3006A(a)(2)(B). Counsel will represent Watkins in all federal proceedings related to this matter, 23 including any appeals or certiorari proceedings, unless allowed to withdraw. 24 25 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Watkins shall have up to and including 90 days from 26 entry of this order within which to file an amended petition and/or seek other appropriate 27 relief. Neither the foregoing deadline nor any extension thereof signifies or will signify any 28 implied finding as to the expiration of the federal limitation period and/or of a basis for tolling 1 during the time period established. Watkins remains responsible for calculating the running of the 2 federal limitation period and timely asserting claims, without regard to any deadlines established 3 or extensions granted herein. That is, by setting a deadline to amend the petition and/or by granting 4 any extension thereof, the Court makes no finding or representation that the petition, any 5 6 amendments thereto, and/or any claims contained therein are not subject to dismissal as 7 untimely. See Sossa v. Diaz,

(9th Cir. 2013). 8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondents shall file a response to the amended 9 petition, including potentially by motion to dismiss, within 60 days of service of an amended 10 petition and that Watkins may file a reply thereto within 30 days of service of the answer. The 11 12 response and reply time to any motion filed by either party, including a motion to dismiss, shall be 13 governed instead by Local Rule LR 7-2(b). 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any procedural defenses raised by Respondents to the 15 counseled amended petition shall be raised together in a single consolidated motion to dismiss. In 16 other words, the Court does not wish to address any procedural defenses raised herein either in 17 18 seriatum fashion in multiple successive motions to dismiss or embedded in the answer. Procedural 19 defenses omitted from such motion to dismiss will be subject to potential waiver. Respondents 20 shall not file a response in this case that consolidates their procedural defenses, if any, with their 21 response on the merits, except pursuant to

(b)(2) as to any unexhausted claims 22 clearly lacking merit. If Respondents do seek dismissal of unexhausted claims under § 2254(b)(2): 23 24 (a) they shall do so within the single motion to dismiss not in the answer; and (b) they shall 25 specifically direct their argument to the standard for dismissal under § 2254(b)(2) set forth in 26 Cassett v. Stewart,

(9th Cir. 2005). In short, no procedural defenses, 27 28 1 including exhaustion, shall be included with the merits in an answer. All procedural defenses, 2 including exhaustion, instead must be raised by motion to dismiss. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, in any answer filed on the merits, Respondents shall 4 specifically cite to and address the applicable state court written decision and state court record 5 6 materials, if any, regarding each claim within the response as to that claim. 7 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any state court record and related exhibits filed herein 8 by either Watkins or Respondents shall be filed with a separate index of exhibits identifying the 9 exhibits by number. The CM/ECF attachments that are filed further shall be identified by the 10 number or numbers of the exhibits in the attachment. If the exhibits filed will span more than one 11 12 ECF Number in the record, the first document under each successive ECF Number shall be either 13 another copy of the index, a volume cover page, or some other document serving as a filler, so that 14 each exhibit under the ECF Number thereafter will be listed under an attachment number (i.e., 15 Attachment 1, 2, etc.). 16 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that courtesy copies of exhibits shall not be provided. 17 18 DATED: March 16, 2025 19 20 __________________________________ 21 RICHARD F. BOULWARE, II 22 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28