Wood v. Ryan
Filing
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ORDER denying 1 Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Motion for a Stay of Execution. Signed by Judge Jennifer G Zipps on 7/20/14.(MAP)
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WO
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Joseph Rudolph Wood, III,
Petitioner,
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vs.
No. CV-14-2236-TUC-JGZ
Death Penalty Case
Order
Charles L. Ryan, et al.,
Respondents.
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Petitioner Joseph Wood is an Arizona death row inmate. His execution is
scheduled for July 23, 2014. On Friday, July 18, 2014, he filed a Petition for Writ of
Habeas Corpus and Motion for Stay of Execution in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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(Doc. 1.) The Court of Appeals transferred the case to this Court pursuant to Fed. R.
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App. P. 22(a). (Id., Ex. 1.)
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Petitioner seeks relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He claims that the Arizona
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Supreme Court unconstitutionally rejected mitigating evidence by applying a causal
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connection test. See Tennard v. Dretke, 524 U.S. 37 (2004). He seeks a stay of his
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execution pending the outcome of en banc review in McKinney v. Ryan, No. 09-99018
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(9th Cir.), which will address the question of whether “Tennard error” is subject to
harmless error review.
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Petitioner’s § 2241 petition will be denied. Section 2254 is the exclusive avenue
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for state prisoners to challenge the legality of their imprisonment pursuant to the
judgment of a state court. See Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651, 662 (1996) (“Our
authority to grant habeas relief to state prisoners is limited by § 2254.”); Rittenberry v.
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Morgan, 468 F.3d 331, 336 (6th Cir. 2006) (“[I]f a habeas petition could so easily avoid
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the strict requirements of AEDPA, nobody would file under section 2254, and the
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statute would become a nullity”); Greenawalt v. Stewart, 105 F.3d 1287, 1287 (9th Cir.
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1997) (“The Supreme Court has instructed us that the authority of the federal courts to
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grant habeas relief to state prisoners under § 2241 is limited by 28 U.S.C. § 2254.”);
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Stotts v. Luna, 46 Fed.Appx. 523 (9th Cir. 2001) (“Although Petitioner styles his
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petition as one under section 2241, he is, as a state prisoner, limited by the restrictions
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of 28 U.S.C. § 2254.”).
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///
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Accordingly,
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
and Motion for a Stay of Execution is DENIED. (Doc. 1.)
Dated this 20th day of July, 2014.
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