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)
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
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