Nelson v. Stephenson
Filing
5
OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING CASE without prejudice Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (LWag)
Case 3:22-cv-10632-RHC-APP ECF No. 5, PageID.23 Filed 01/19/23 Page 1 of 2
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
______________________________________________________________________
WAYNE JEFFREY NELSON,
Petitioner,
v.
Case No. 22-cv-10632
GEORGE STEPHENSON,
Respondent.
________________________________/
OPINION & ORDER DISMISSING CASE WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Petitioner Wayne Jeffrey Nelson, acting pro se, filed a petition for writ of habeas
corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (ECF No. 1.) As of the date of this order, Petitioner has
not paid the filing fee for his petition, nor requested permission to proceed without
prepaying the filing fee, despite the court’s previous order to correct this deficiency.
(ECF No. 3.) Accordingly, the court will dismiss this case without prejudice.
DISCUSSION
On March 14, 2022, Petitioner filed a habeas petition, challenging a 1984 Wayne
County, Michigan sentence for convictions of murder and armed robbery. (ECF No. 1,
PageID.1.) He failed to list any grounds for relief. (Id. at PageID.5–10) Additionally,
though his cover letter to the Clerk of the Court seemed to indicate that Petitioner
enclosed with his petition a motion to hold his case in abeyance, the court has not
received the motion. (See Id. at PageID.16.)
On March 28, 2022, Magistrate Judge David R. Grand ordered Petitioner to
either pay the nominal filing fee of $5.00 for this action or apply for leave to proceed in
Case 3:22-cv-10632-RHC-APP ECF No. 5, PageID.24 Filed 01/19/23 Page 2 of 2
forma pauperis within 21 days of his order. (ECF No. 3.) Petitioner has not responded
in any fashion to Magistrate Judge Grand’s order.
A party’s failure to prosecute a case or to comply with a court order is a basis for
dismissing a civil action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) (Involuntary Dismissal); E.D. Mich.
LR 41.2 (Dismissal for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction or Failure to Prosecute). In
appropriate circumstances, “a District Court may dismiss a complaint for failure to
prosecute even without affording notice of its intention to do so or providing an
adversary hearing before acting.” Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633 (1962).
As noted above, Petitioner has not paid the nominal filing fee for this case. He
also has not applied for permission to proceed in forma pauperis or asked for an
extension of time to comply with Magistrate Judge Grand’s order. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) is
DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for want of prosecution and for failure to comply
with Magistrate Judge Grand’s deficiency order. This case is now closed.
s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: January 19, 2023
/
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of
record on this date, January 19, 2023, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
(810) 292-6522
S:\Cleland\Cleland\EKL\Opinions & Orders\Staff Attorney\22-10632.NELSON.DismissalWithoutPrejudice.EKL.docx
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