UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND ) GARY TASSONE, ) Petitioner, ) ) Vv. ) No. 1:23-00280-JJM-LDA ) DIRECTOR SALISBURY, ) Respondent, ) ) ORDER Before the Court is Petitioner Gary Tassone’s Petition under

for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (ECF No. 1), arising from his

January 28, 1997, state court conviction for first-degree murder, and related motions (ECF Nos. 2, 6, 7). The State has moved to dismiss the Petition (ECF No. 10) because

Mr. Tassone has not exhausted his state court remedies. Mr. Tassone’s Habeas Petition is again premature.! His application for writ of

certiorari, relating to the denial of his state post-conviction petition, is pending before

1 Mr. Tassone has filed two previous habeas petitions in this Court. He filed the first, Tassone v. Wall, CA 17-596-JJM-LDA, on December 26, 2017, after the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s remand of his state application for post-conviction relief but before the Superior Court had conducted a hearing on the application. See Tassone v, State, No. PM-2000-4624,

, at *1 (RI. Super. Ct. Oct. 22, 2021). The Court dismissed the first petition on March 21, 2018, because Mr. Tassone had not exhausted his state court remedies. See Docket in 7assone v. Wall, CA 17- 596-JJM-LDA (Text Order dated March 21, 2018). On April 28, 2021, Mr. Tassone filed his second petition, Tassone v. Coyne-Fague, CA 21-189-JJM-LDA, after the remand hearing but before the Superior Court issued its decision, see Tassone v. State,

, at *1. On December 19, 2021, the Court dismissed the second petition, again on exhaustion grounds. See Docket in Tassone v. Coyne-Fague, CA 21-189-JJM-LDA (Text Order dated December 19, 2021).

the Rhode Island Supreme Court. See Tassone v. State, Case No. SU-2021-0314-MP.2 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the. State’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 10) and

DISMISSES the Petition (ECF No. 1) without prejudice to being filed after he has

fully exhausted his state court remedies. In addition, the Court DENIES all pending motions (ECF Nos. 2, 6, 7) in this case as moot.

IS SO eh ED. ()

[] □□□ John J. McConnell, Jr. Chief Judge United States District Court October 4, 2023

The appeal is currently in the pre-briefing stage. See ECF No. 10-3 (Case Summary in SU-2021-0314-MP). Thus, despite Mr. Tassone’s complaints of “inordinate delay” by the State, Petition at 7, 8, 13, 14 the case is progressing, see ECF No. 10-3.