Ernest DeWayne Jones v. Robert K. Wong

Filing 108

APPLICATION to Exceed Page Limitation Petitioner's Opening Brief on Claim 27 filed by Petitioner Ernest DeWayne Jones. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order)(Plunkett, Cliona)

1 Michael Laurence (Bar No. 121854)
Cliona Plunkett (Bar No. 256648)
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HABEAS CORPUS RESOURCE CENTER
3 303 Second Street, Suite 400 South
4 San Francisco, California 94107
5 Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
6 E-mail:
[e-mail]
7 Attorneys for Petitioner Ernest Dewayne Jones
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 ERNEST DEWAYNE JONES,

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

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DEATH PENALTY CASE

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Petitioner,
v.

13 KEVIN CHAPPELL, Warden of
14 California State Prison at San
Quentin,
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Respondent.
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Ex Parte Application to File
Petitioner’s Opening Brief on
Claim 27 in Excess of Page Limits

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Pursuant to Rule 7-19 of the Local Rules for the United States District Court

20 for the Central District of California, Petitioner Ernest Dewayne Jones hereby
21 applies for an order granting permission to file an opening brief that exceeds the
22 twenty-five (25) page limit prescribed by Local Rule 11-6.
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Petitioner has advised Respondent’s counsel of this request and he does not

24 oppose it. The contact information for counsel for Respondent is as follows:.
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HERBERT S. TETEF
Deputy Attorney General
300 South Spring Street, Suite 1702
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ex. Parte Appln. To Exceed Page Limits

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

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Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
The reasons for this application are set out in the attached Declaration of

4 Michael Laurence.
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Dated: June 9, 2014

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Respectfully submitted,
HABEAS CORPUS RESOURCE CENTER

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By: /s/ Michael Laurence
Michael Laurence
Cliona Plunkett

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Attorneys for Petitioner
Ernest Dewayne Jones

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Ex. Parte Appln. To Exceed Page Limits

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

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Declaration of Michael Laurence

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I, Michael Laurence, declare as follows:

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1.

I am an attorney at law admitted to practice by the State of California

4 and before this Court. I am the Executive Director of the Habeas Corpus Resource
5 Center. I was appointed as lead counsel for Petitioner Ernest Dewayne Jones in the
6 above-referenced matter by this Court in an order dated April 14, 2009.
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2.

On April 10, 2014, this Court issued an order requesting the parties to

8 file simultaneously opening briefs regarding the constitutionality of petitioner’s
9 death sentence given the delays in execution of sentence in California and the
10 uncertainty that his sentence will ever be carried out.
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3.

Pursuant to L.R 11-6, “no memorandum of points and authorities, pre-

12 trial brief, trial brief, or post-trial brief shall exceed 25 pages in length.” Petitioner
13 seeks permission to file a pleading that is in excess of 25 pages.
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4.

The briefing requires the following tasks: (1) describing and

15 documenting the dysfunction in California’s death penalty system; and (2) setting
16 out the legal arguments applicable to this claim.
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5.

We have attempted to comply with the Court’s page limit; however,

18 with the briefing completed, it is clear that additional space is necessary to
19 adequately address the issues raised by this Court’s April 10, 2014 Order. Given
20 the above-described factors and the importance of the briefed issues to resolving
21 the merits of this case, another 22 pages are necessary to complete the current
22 briefing.
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5.

On June 9, 2014, Ms. Cliona Plunkett, counsel for petitioner, spoke to

24 Herbert Tetef, counsel for respondent, and informed him of the substance of this
25 request. Mr. Tetef authorized petitioner’s counsel to represent to the Court that he
26 has no objection to this application.
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Ex. Parte Appln. To Exceed Page Limits

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

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Dated: June 9, 2014

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Respectfully submitted,
HABEAS CORPUS RESOURCE CENTER

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By: /s/ Michael Laurence
Michael Laurence
Cliona Plunkett

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Attorneys for Petitioner
Ernest Dewayne Jones

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Ex. Parte Appln. To Exceed Page Limits

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC