Iseli v. Del Norte County District Attorney's Office
- Alex Tse
- 5:25-cv-06138
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Branden Iseli v. Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office, Judge Delaney transferred the habeas case to the Northern District of California.
The order affects Branden Willie Iseli and transfers his sentence-execution habeas case from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California.
What happened
Branden Willie Iseli, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition challenging how his sentence is being carried out. The case was filed in the Eastern District of California.
The court said sentence-execution challenges generally belong in the federal district where the prisoner is confined. Iseli is incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County, which is within the Northern District of California.
Judge Carolyn K. Delaney ordered the case transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The court did not decide the substance of Iseli’s challenge.
The detailed version
- Iseli v. Del Norte County District Attorney's Office · No. 5:25-cv-06138
- Alex Tse
- July 17, 2025
Background
Branden Willie Iseli, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He challenged the execution of his sentence, meaning how the sentence is being carried out rather than the underlying conviction or sentence itself.
Transfer
The court explained that the proper federal forum for a challenge to the execution of a sentence is generally the district where the prisoner is confined. Iseli is incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County, and Del Norte County is within the Northern District of California.
The court relied on its authority to transfer the action to another federal district where it could have been brought, citing 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a), 1406(a), and 2241(d). It determined that the Northern District of California was the most appropriate forum.
Disposition
Judge Carolyn K. Delaney ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order transferred the case without deciding the merits of Iseli’s habeas challenge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.