Hawes v. State of Georgia

Filing 6

ORDER granting 3 Motion to Dismiss, dismissing as moot 4 Motion to Amend/Correct, and dismissing without prejudice the Section 2254 Petition. The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case and enter an appropriate judgment of dismissal. Signed by Chief Judge J. Randal Hall on 06/23/2018. (thb)

Download PDF
U.S. OlS i RiCT COURT If c AUGUSTA OfV IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA STATESBORO DIVISION 20I8JUL23 ilHIlMU clerkJ SO.Djb rM GA.' JAMES H. HA WES, Petitioner, CIVIL ACTION NO.: 6:18-cv-26 V. STATE OF GEORGIA, Respondent. ORDER This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner James Hawes' ("Hawes") Motion to Dismiss Petition, (doc. 3).' In his Motion, Hawes states he filed his 28 U.S.C. ยง 2254 Petition using the incorrect form and filed a new Section 2254 petition using the correct form, which bears Case Number 6:18-cv-48. (Id.) Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(l)(A)(i), the Court GRANTS Hawes' Motion and DISMISSES Hawes' Section 2254 Petition without prejudice. See Perkins v. Daniels. Civil Action No. 14-00077-WS-N, 2014 WL 4322389, at *2-3 (S.D. Ala. Aug. 29, 2014) (recognizing Rule 41(a)'s applicability to Section 2254 petitions). The Court also DISMISSES as moot Hawes' Motion to Add Defendants. (Doc. 4.) ' Although Hawes provided no legal basis for his Motion, the Court construes Hawes' Motion as being made pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. "Federal courts sometimes will ignore the legal label that a pro se litigant attaches to a motion and recharacterize the motion in order to place it within a different legal category." Retic v. United States. 215 F. App'x 962, 964 (11th Cir. 2007) (quoting Castro v. United States. 540 U.S. 375, 381 (2003)). Federal courts "may do so in order to avoid an unnecessary dismissal, to avoid inappropriately stringent application of formal labeling requirements, or to create a better correspondence between the substance of a pro se motion's claim and its underlying legal basis." Id.(quoting Castro. 540 U.S. at 381-82). The Court DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to CLOSE this case and enter an appropriate judgment of dismissal. so ORDERED,this day of July, 2018. J. RANim HALL,CHIEF JUDGE '^x4JNITEI>STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?