Feola v. Bennett

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 10 MICHAEL ANTHONY FEOLA, CASE NO. 3:24-cv-05078-JHC-GJL 11 Petitioner, v. ORDER SUBSTITUTING 12 RESPONDENT JEFFEREY PERKINS, Respondent.

15 The District Court has referred this federal habeas action filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 16 2254 to United States Magistrate Judge Grady J. Leupold. Currently before the Court is Petitioner Michael A. Feola’s Motion to Change Respondent given his recent transfer to Stafford Creek Corrections Center (“SCCC”). Dkt. 16; see also Dkt. 15 (Notice of Change of Address).

19 The proper respondent for a § 2254 petition is the “state officer having custody” of the petitioner, which is ordinarily “the warden of the facility in which the petitioner is incarcerated.”

21 Ortiz-Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1996). Hence, the proper respondent in this case is Jason Bennett, the SCCC warden and the state officer having custody over Petitioner.

23 // 1 Accordingly, Petitioner’s Motion to Change Respondent is GRANTED1 and Jason Bennett is SUBSTITUTED as Respondent. As Petitioner has not yet filed an amended petition asserting his substantive grounds for relief, the Court will not direct service upon Respondent Jason Bennett at this time. Petitioner shall continue to FILE a report every ninety (90) days informing the Court of the status of his state court proceedings. If the state court dismisses or resolves Petitioner’s state court proceedings, Petitioner is directed to INFORM the Court and FILE a motion to lift the stay not later than 30 days of the state court taking such action.

8 Petitioner shall FILE an amended petition not later than 60 days after the stay is lifted.

9 Finally, the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to update the docket and case caption to reflect Jason Bennett as the new Respondent.

11 Dated this 28th day of October, 2024.

A 14 Grady J. Leupold United States Magistrate Judge Given Petitioner’s status as a pro se litigant, the Court’s grants his Motion even though this matter is currently stayed. In the future, Petitioner is ADVISED that additional motions unrelated to the stay are strongly discouraged.