Trevino v. Lumpkin

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION JAIME J. TREVINO, § § Petitioner, § VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:21-CV-53 § BOBBY LUMPKIN, § § Respondent. §

OPINION AND ORDER OF TRANSFER This is a habeas action filed on March 14, 2021, by a state prisoner incarcerated at the George Beto Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas, which is located in Anderson County. (D.E. 1). In his complaint, Plaintiff challenges his Cameron County sentence. (D.E. 1).

A habeas action may be filed either in the district where petitioner is in custody or in the district in which petitioner was convicted. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wadsworth v. Johnson, 235 F.3d 959 (5th Cir. 2000). Petitioner’s place of incarceration is in the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas, 28 U.S.C. § 124(c)(1), and he was convicted by a court located in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas. 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(4).

For 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. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a). A habeas application may be transferred in furtherance of justice to the district court within which the state court was held which convicted and sentenced the petitioner. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Because petitioner was convicted in Cameron County, it is more convenient and would further the interests of justice for this action to be handled in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas. The records of his conviction and the prosecutor and defense lawyers are all located in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that this case be transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to close this case.

ORDERED this 26th day of March, 2021.

ie Jason B. Libby Z United States Magistrate Judge 2/2