Jones v. Bell

Filing 41

ORDER granting 37 Motion to amend case caption, 38 Motion to supplement petition for writ of habeas corpus and 39 Motion to reopen case. Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (DPer)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

GARRY JONES,
Petitioner,
v.

Case No. 10-14476

JOHN DAVIDS,
Respondent.
__________________________________/
ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER'S MOTIONS TO LIFT STAY AND REOPEN CASE,
AMEND THE CASE CAPTION, AND SUPPLEMENT HIS HABEAS PETITION
Garry Jones, a Michigan prisoner, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. His case was held in abeyance in 2016 to allow him to
exhaust his claims in state court. (Dkt. #36.) Petitioner now moves to lift the stay and
reopen the case, amend the case caption, and supplement his petition for writ of
habeas corpus. (Dkt. #37–39.) For the reasons stated below, the court will grant these
motions.
Petitioner was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, being a felon in
possession of a weapon, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the
commission of a felony, second offense, following a jury trial in the Wayne County
Circuit Court. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of 20 to 35 years imprisonment on
the robbery and felon in possession convictions and concurrent terms of 5 years
imprisonment on the felony firearm convictions to be served consecutively to the other
sentences in 2007. In his initial petition, Petitioner raised claims concerning his right to
self-representation and the effectiveness of trial and appellate counsel. The court

granted Petitioner relief on his self-representation claim, but the United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision. The court then reopened this case
for consideration of Petitioner’s remaining, unaddressed claims. Petitioner thereafter
moved to stay the proceedings so that he could return to the state courts and exhaust
additional claims concerning the effectiveness of trial counsel and the conduct of the
prosecutor. In 2016, the court granted that request and stayed and administratively
closed the case to allow Petitioner to exhaust his state court remedies.
The matter is now before the court on Petitioner’s motions to re-open this case
and proceed on an amended petition with his supplemental claims (included with his
motion). Since it appears that Petitioner has completed the state court process and
substantially complied with the court’s stay and abeyance order, the court will grant
these motions. The court will further order that the caption in this case be amended to
reflect that the proper respondent in this case is now John Davids, the warden of the
prison where Petitioner is currently incarcerated. See Edwards v. Johns, 450 F. Supp.
2d 755, 757 (E.D. Mich. 2006); see also Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule 2(a), 28
foll. U.S.C. § 2254. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner’s motion to lift the stay and reopen the case (Dkt.
#39) and motion to supplement his petition for writ of habeas corpus (Dkt. #38) are
GRANTED. Respondent is DIRECTED to file an answer to the petition, as amended,
and any additional, relevant state court record by June 3, 2019. Petitioner shall have
until July 19, 2019 to file any desired reply. The court makes no determination as to the
procedural or substantive merits of the claims.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner’s motion to amend the case caption
(Dkt. #37) is GRANTED. The caption of the case will be amended to reflect that the
proper respondent in this case is John Davids.
s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: December 4, 2018

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of record
on this date, December 4, 2018, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
[phone]
S:\Cleland\Cleland\JUDGE'S DESK\C2 ORDERS\10-14476.DAVIDS.Reopen.wpd

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