Valier v. Davis

Filing 5

OPINION AND ORDER TO TRANSFER CASE to SDTX - Houston Division (Signed by Magistrate Judge Jason B Libby) Parties notified.(lcayce, 2)

United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
NKRUMAH LUMUMBA VALIER,
Petitioner,
VS.
LORIE DAVIS,
Respondent.

§
§
§
§
§
§
§
§

November 08, 2016
David J. Bradley, Clerk

CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:16-CV-475

OPINION AND ORDER OF TRANSFER
This is a habeas action filed by a state prisoner incarcerated at the Allred Unit in
Iowa Park, Texas, which is located in Wichita County. (D.E. 1). In his complaint,
Petitioner again challenges his 2005 Harris County conviction and sentence as well as the
handling of his previous habeas petitions. (D.E. 1).1
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 at the time of
filing is in the Wichita Falls Division of the Northern District of Texas, 28 U.S.C. §
124(a)(6), and he was convicted by a court located in Harris County in the Houston
Division of the Southern District of Texas. 28 U.S.C. § 124(b)(2).
1

Petitioner has filed at least five previous federal habeas actions challenging this conviction, all
of which were filed in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas and were
subsequently dismissed. See Valier v. Davis, No. 4:16-cv-1696 (S.D. Tex. July 26, 2016)(final
judgment); Valier v. Davis, No. 4:16-cv-1584 (S.D. Tex. June 10, 2016)(final judgment); Valier
v. Stephens, No. 4:15-cv-2388 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 24, 2015)(order of dismissal); Valier v. Stephens,
No. 4:13-cv-3257 (S.D. Tex. June 29, 2014)(final judgment); Valier v. Stephens, No. 4:13-cv3168 (S.D. Tex. Nov. 27, 2013)(final order).

1/2

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
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 Harris County, it is more convenient and would further the
interests of justice for this action to be handled in the Houston Division of the Southern
District of Texas. The records of his conviction and the prosecutor and defense lawyers
are all located in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.
Accordingly, it is ordered that this case be transferred to the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
ORDERED this 8th day of November, 2016.
___________________________________
Jason B. Libby
United States Magistrate Judge

2/2