Kennard v. Trierweiler

Filing 27

ORDER Granting Petitioner's 24 Motion to Re-Open This Case and Directing the State to File an Answer to the Amended Petition. Signed by District Judge Matthew F. Leitman. (HMon)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
RODNEY CLARENCE KENNARD,
Petitioner,
Case No. 16-cv-12523
Hon. Matthew F. Leitman

v.
TONY TRIERWEILER,

Respondent.
__________________________________________________________________/
ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER’S MOTION TO RE-OPEN THIS CASE
[24] AND DIRECTING THE STATE TO FILE AN ANSWER TO THE
AMENDED PETITION
Petitioner Rodney Clarence Kennard is a state prisoner in the custody of the
Michigan Department of Corrections. On July 5, 2016, Kennard filed a pro se
petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (See ECF #1.) He
challenged his state-court conviction for first-degree, premeditated murder, Mich.
Comp. Laws § 750.316(1)(a). The State filed a responsive pleading in which it
argued that Kennard did not exhaust state remedies for the second half of his second
claim and his eleventh claim. (See ECF #7, PageID.127-128, 132.) Kennard then
asked the Court to stay consideration of his petition while he returned to state court
and pursued post-conviction renedies with respect to his second and eleventh claims.
(See ECF #20).

On June 4, 2018, the Court granted Kennard’s request for a stay and
conditioned the stay on Kennard presenting his unexhausted claims to the state trial
court in a motion for relief from judgment no later than August 31, 2018. The Court
further conditioned the stay on Kennard returning to federal court with a motion to
re-open and amend his petition within sixty days of fully exhausting his state-court
remedies. (See ECF #21.) The Court closed this case for administrative purposes.
Id.
Now before the Court are Kennard’s motion to re-open this case and his
amended petition for the writ of habeas corpus. (See ECF #24 and #25.) Exhibits
to the amended petition indicate that Kennard raised claims about his trial and
appellate attorneys and the great weight of the evidence in a motion for relief from
judgment. The state trial court denied the motion on March 13, 2019. (See ECF
#25, PageID.3815-3817.) The Michigan Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on
September 11, 2019 (see id., PageID. 3818), and the Michigan Supreme Court
denied Kennard’s application for leave to appeal on March 27, 2020 (see id., PageID.
3819).
Kennard filed his amended petition and motion to re-open this case on April
29, 2020.

He appears to have exhausted state remedies for his previously

unexhausted claims. He also appears to have complied, for the most part, with the

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conditions set forth in the Court’s order granting a stay. Accordingly, the motion to
re-open this case, ECF No. 24, is granted.
The Court orders the Clerk of Court to re-open this case on the Court’s active
docket. The Court orders the State to file an answer to the amended petition and any
supplemental state-court records within sixty (60) days of the date of this order.
Kennard shall have forty-five (45) days from the date of the State’s supplemental
response to file a reply.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/Matthew F. Leitman
MATTHEW F. LEITMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: July 6, 2020
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties
and/or counsel of record on July 6, 2020, by electronic means and/or ordinary mail.
s/Holly A. Monda
Case Manager
[phone]

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