Hess v. Stephens, Director TDCJ-CID
Filing
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OPINION AND ORDER TO TRANSFER CASE to SDTX - Brownsville Division; denying as moot 5 MOTION for Discovery MOTION to Stay (Signed by Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos) Parties notified.(lcayce, 2)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
SCOTT HESS,
Petitioner,
VS.
WILLIAM STEPHENS, DIRECTOR
TDCJ-CID,
Respondent.
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§ CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:13-CV-411
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OPINION AND ORDER OF TRANSFER
This is a habeas action filed on December 19, 2013, by a state prisoner
incarcerated at the Jester 4 Unit in Richmond, Texas, which is located in Fort Bend
County. (DE 1). In his complaint, Plaintiff challenges his conviction and his sentence.
(DE 1). Prior to filing the pending petition, Petitioner filed a habeas action that is
currently pending in the Brownsville Division, Case No. 1:13-cv-190, challenging the
same conviction and sentence.
A habeas action may be filed either in the district where petitioner is in custody or
in the district in which petitioner was convicted. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wadsworth v.
Johnson, 235 F.3d 959 (5th Cir. 2000). Petitioner’s place of incarceration is in the
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(2), and he was
convicted by a court located in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of
Texas. 28 U.S.C. § 124(a)(4).
For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district
court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have
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been brought. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a).
A habeas application may be
transferred in furtherance of justice to the district court within which the state court was
held which convicted and sentenced the petitioner. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d).
Because
petitioner was convicted in Cameron County, it is more convenient and would further the
interests of justice for this action to be handled in the Brownsville Division of the
Southern District of Texas. The records of his conviction and the prosecutor and defense
lawyers are all located in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas.
Further, Petitioner has a pending habeas action challenging the same conviction and
sentence in that Court.
Accordingly, it is ordered that this case be transferred to the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division. All pending motions are
denied as moot and are subject to renewal after the case is transferred.
ORDERED this 21st day of January, 2014.
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NELVA GONZALES RAMOS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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