Summary
This memorandum opinion addresses a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by an incarcerated individual challenging his state criminal conviction. The United States Magistrate Judge determined that while jurisdiction was proper in the Eastern District of Texas due to the petitioner's current confinement, the interests of justice favored transferring the action to the Northern District of Texas, where the conviction occurred. The court ordered the clerk to transfer the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Eastern District of Texas should transfer Spence's § 2254 habeas petition to the Northern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d) and § 1404(a), where Spence was convicted and sentenced.
Holdings
- Although jurisdiction was proper in the Eastern District of Texas because Spence was confined there, the interests of justice favored transferring the petition to the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas, where the conviction occurred.
Key quotations
“While jurisdiction is proper in the Eastern District of Texas because the prisoner is confined within the district court’s territorial boundaries, the court has considered the circumstances and has determined that the interests of justice would best be served if this petition were transferred to the division in which Petitioner was convicted.”
Factual background
James Clifford Spence, Jr. is incarcerated at the LeBlanc Unit in Beaumont, Texas, within the Eastern District of Texas. He challenges a 1993 Dallas County conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child for which he received a sixty-year sentence. The conviction and sentencing occurred in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas.
Procedural history
Spence was convicted in the 3rd Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, in 1993 and sentenced to sixty years' imprisonment. While confined in the Eastern District of Texas, he filed a petition challenging that conviction. The Eastern District court determined that the interests of justice favored transfer to the Northern District of Texas because the conviction occurred there and relevant records and witnesses might be located there.
Remand instructions
The Clerk was ordered to transfer the action to the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.