Rood v. Swarthout
Filing
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ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 06/12/13 granting 24 Motion to Stay pursuant to Rhines v. Weber 544 US 269 (2005) pending exhaustion of his additional claims (1) that the trial judge may have a conflict of interest; (2) that his sentence should be modified under proposition 36. Petitioner shall inform this court and file a request to lift the stay within 30 days of a decision by the California Supreme Court concluding state habeas review. The clerk of court shall administratively close this case for purposes of case status pending exhaustion. (Plummer, M)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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RICHARD VINCENT ROOD,
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No. 2:12-cv-1476 AC P
Petitioner,
v.
ORDER
GARY SWARTHOUT,
Respondent.
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Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis on his petition for a
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writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The parties have consented to the
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jurisdiction of the undersigned. ECF Nos. 7, 13.
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The sole claim raised in the petition is that the trial court abused its discretion when it
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denied petitioner’s motion to strike at least one of petitioner’s prior strikes. Petitioner now seeks
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a stay of the proceedings in order to allow him to exhaust two additional claims in the state court.
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ECF No. 24. The two new claims are: (1) that the trial judge failed to disclose a conflict of
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interest, because the trial judge’s spouse was a member of the Major Crimes Unit which
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petitioner claims was responsible in part for the arrest, investigation, and preparation of the
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prosecution against petitioner; and (2) that petitioner may seek modification of his sentence
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pursuant to the newly enacted Proposition 36, passed by state voters in November 2012.
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Respondent has notified the court that he has no objection to the requested stay, so long as
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petitioner notifies the court within 30 days of exhausting his claims. ECF No. 26.
The undersigned has additionally considered the unexhausted claims under the standard
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announced by the Supreme Court in Rhines v. Weber, and finds that stay and abeyance is
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appropriate in this action. See 544 U.S. 269 (2005) (petitioner must show good cause for failure
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to have first exhausted, that the claims at issue potentially have merit, and that there has been no
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indication that petitioner has been intentionally dilatory). While the court had previously denied
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petitioner’s cursory requests for a stay, often presented in the context of a motion for appointment
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of counsel or an investigator, the court had not determined that petitioner’s claims lacked merit.
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Instead, the prior applications contained insufficient facts to demonstrate the existence of a non-
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speculative judicial bias claim. See ECF Nos. 8; 14; 20. In light of petitioner’s new and
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additional request to stay in order to seek modification of his three strikes sentence, which is
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based on a recent change in legislation, the undersigned finds sufficient basis to warrant stay and
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abeyance under Rhines.
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In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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1. Petitioner’s motion for a stay, filed on April 24, 2013 (ECF No. 24), is granted
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pursuant to Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005), pending exhaustion of his
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additional claims (1) that the trial judge may have had a conflict of interest; and (2)
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that his sentence should be modified under Proposition 36;
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2. Petitioner shall inform this court and file a request to lift the stay within 30 days of a
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decision by the California Supreme Court concluding state habeas review. Failure to
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timely inform the court shall result in dismissal of the pending petition; and
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3. The Clerk of Court shall administratively close this case for purposes of case status
pending exhaustion.
DATED: June 12, 2013
________________________________________
ALLISON CLAIRE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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AC:rb/rood1476.stay
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