Lopez Garcia v. Captain Allen et al

Filing 6

OPINION AND ORDER denying 5 MOTION to Transfer Case ( Response due by 7/14/2014.)(Signed by Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington) Parties notified.(amireles, 2)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
RUBEN JOSE LOPEZ GARCIA,
Petitioner,
VS.
WILLIAM STEPHENS,
Director,TDCJ-CID1

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§ CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:14-CV-184
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Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE
Petitioner filed this habeas action on May 22, 2014, challenging the results of a
disciplinary conviction imposed by officials at TDCJ-CID’s Coffield Unit in Tennessee
Colony, Texas (D.E. 1), which is located in Anderson County, Texas. 28 U.S.C. §
124(c)(1). Service of process was ordered (D.E. 4), and pending is Respondent’s motion
to transfer venue to the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas (D.E. 5).
In a habeas action, jurisdiction in a state with more than one judicial district is
proper in the district of conviction or the district where Petitioner is incarcerated. 28
U.S.C. § 2241(d). Petitioner was convicted in Hidalgo County, which is located in the
McAllen Division of the Southern District of Texas, 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(7), and he is now
and was at the time of filing of this petition, incarcerated in Bee County, which is located
in the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas. 28 U.S.C. §124(b)(6).

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William Stephens is the Petitioner’s custodian and the appropriate respondent in this case. Rule 2(a), Rules
Governing Section 2254 Cases. The Clerk shall substitute William Stephens as the respondent and terminate all
other named respondents. FED. R. CIV. P. 17(d).

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TDCJ-CID is not a state court, and the Eastern District of Texas lacks jurisdiction to hear
the petition. Wadsworth v. Johnson, 235 F.3d 959, 962 (5th Cir. 2000).
Accordingly, the motion to transfer venue (D.E. 5) is DENIED. Respondent’s
responsive pleading shall be filed on or before July 14, 2014.
ORDERED this 13th day of June, 2014.

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B. JANICE ELLINGTON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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