Leopard v. Attorney General Washington State

FILED IN THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON Aug 26, 2020 3 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON KEVIN JAMES LEOPARD, NO: 4:20-CV-5088-RMP 8 Petitioner, ORDER SUMMARILY DISMISSING 9 v. HABEAS ACTION ATTORNEY GENERAL ROBERT FERGUSON and CHIEF SCOTT SOUZA, Respondents.

14 By Order filed July 22, 2020, the Court granted Petitioner leave to proceed in forma pauperis and directed him to show cause why his pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 should not be dismissed due to Petitioner’s failure to exhaust state court remedies and as a proper exercise of abstention under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971). ECF No. 5. Petitioner filed this action as a pretrial detainee at the Benton County Jail. Petitioner did not comply with the Court’s directive to show cause and has not filed anything further in this action.

1 For the reasons set forth above and in the Order to Show Cause, ECF No. 5, the Court finds it appropriate to dismiss this action without prejudice for failure to exhaust state court remedies. Because it appears that Petitioner is not entitled to relief in this Court at this time, IT IS ORDERED that the petition, ECF No. 1, is DISMISSED pursuant to Rule 4, Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts.

7 IT IS SO ORDERED. The District Court Clerk is directed to enter this Order, enter judgment, provide copies to Petitioner, and close the file. The Court certifies that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), an appeal from this decision could not be taken in good faith, and there is no basis upon which to issue a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c); Fed. R. App. P. 22(b). A certificate of appealability is therefore DENIED.

13 DATED August 26, 2020.

15 s/ Rosanna Malouf Peterson ROSANNA MALOUF PETERSON 16 United States District Judge