Pruitt v. Hall

Filing 3

ORDERED that this case is TRANSFERRED to the Northern District of Georgia for all further proceedings re 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Leslie Sean Pruitt. Signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith on 1/17/18. (loh)[Transferred from Georgia Southern on 1/18/2018.]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION
LESLIE S. PRUITT,
Petitioner,
v.
PHILLIP HALL, Warden,
Respondent.

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CV418-013

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ORDER
Leslie Pruitt is a prisoner housed at Telfair State Prison in Telfair
County, Georgia, for crimes committed in Douglas County, Georgia.
Doc. 1 at 1; see Georgia Department of Corrections Inmate Locator,
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/ GDC/OffenderQuery/.

He has filed a

petition for writ of habeas corpus, seeking review of his state court
conviction. Doc. 1 at 1-6.
He evidently chose to file his § 2254 petition in this judicial district
because he is incarcerated in Telfair County. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(c)(2)
(Dublin division). He was convicted, however, in Douglas County, which
lies within the Northern District of Georgia. 28 U.S.C. § 90(a)(2). A
federal habeas petitioner is allowed to file his petition in either the
district where he was convicted or in the district where he is confined.

28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wright v. Indiana, 263 F. App’x 794, 795 (11th Cir.
2008). Hence, both this Court and the Northern District concurrently
have jurisdiction to hear his case.
Nevertheless, it is longstanding judicial policy and practice to funnel
such petitions into the district within which the state prisoner was
convicted, since that will be the most convenient forum.

Mitchell v.

Henderson, 432 F.2d 435, 436 (5th Cir. 1970); see Wright, 263 F. App’x at
795. That practice also fosters an equitable distribution of habeas cases
between the districts. This case is therefore TRANSFERRED to the
Northern District of Georgia for all further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1404(a) (permitting a district court to transfer any civil action to
another district or division where it may have been brought for the
convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice); Rufus
v. Kemp, 2013 WL 2659983 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. June 12, 2013).
SO ORDERED, this 17th day of January, 2018.

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