Davidson v. Chatman

Filing 14

ORDER directing the Clerk to transfer this case to the Northern District of Georgia for all further proceedings re 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Gerald A. Davidson. Signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith on 06/28/2011. (lmm)[Transferred from Georgia Southern on 6/28/2011.]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION
GERALD ALTON DAVIDSON,
Petitioner,
v.
BRUCE CHATMAN, Warden,
Respondent.

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Case No. CV411-069

ORDER
In an amended 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition, doc. 8, Gerald Alton
Davidson challenges his 1997 “conviction on two counts of child
molestation, four counts of aggravated sodomy, two counts of aggravated
child molestation, three counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of
cruelty to children, and one count of statutory rape.” Davidson v. State,
231 Ga. App. 605, 615 (1998). For his original filing he did not use a 28
U.S.C. § 2254 Rule 2(d) form. Doc. 1 (forty-page handwritten petition).
The Court sent him one when it issued him a warning under Castro v.
United States, 540 U.S. 375, 382–83 (2003). Doc. 7. The form sought

the location of his conviction -- Banks County, Georgia, doc. 8 at 3 -- which
is in the Northern District of Georgia. Yet, he is confined in a prison

within this judicial district, the Southern District of Georgia. Id. at 1.
While both districts have “concurrent jurisdiction” to consider his
petition, 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), the court where the habeas petition is filed
has the discretion to transfer the petition to any other district that has the
power to hear the case. Id. It is the long-standing policy and practice in
the United States District Courts in this circuit to cause all such petitions
to be filed in or transferred to the district where the state prisoner was
convicted, since that will be the most convenient forum. Eagle v.
Linahan, 279 F.3d 926, 933 n. 9 (11th Cir. 2001) (“The practice of the

district courts in Georgia is to transfer habeas petitions filed in the
district court where the petitioner is confined to the district where the
petitioner was convicted.”); Mitchell v. Henderson, 432 F. 2d 435, 436 (5th
Cir. 1970) (“The purpose of [§ 2241(d)], of course, is to provide a more
convenient forum for witnesses.”). This practice also fosters an equitable
distribution of habeas cases between the districts of this state.
Having considered the interest of justice, the Court concludes that
the Northern District would be the better forum for resolving this matter.
Hence, the Clerk is DIRECTED to transfer this case to the Northern
District of Georgia for all further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a)

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(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).
SO ORDERED this 28th day of June, 2011.

UNITEI) S1ACES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

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