Constable v. McCombre

Background

Edward Harry Constable, aka Brittany H. Constable, identified himself as a state prisoner at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California. He filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging a conviction from the San Joaquin County Superior Court. The filing also appeared to assert civil-rights claims concerning conditions at Kern Valley State Prison, California State Prison–Sacramento, and California State Prison–Stockton, as well as an attack suffered at a San Joaquin County courthouse.

Venue analysis

Venue means the federal district where a case should be heard. The court explained that a petition challenging a conviction or sentence may be filed in either the district where the prisoner is confined or the district where the conviction occurred. But petitions challenging a conviction are preferably heard in the district of conviction. Because the challenged conviction came from San Joaquin County, the court determined that the Eastern District of California was the appropriate venue for any claims under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

The court also determined that the Eastern District of California was the proper venue for any civil-rights claims. It cited the rule allowing a civil case to be filed where a defendant resides or where the events at issue occurred, and concluded that venue was proper in the Eastern District rather than the Northern District of California.

Disposition

The court transferred the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), the federal statute governing transfer when venue is improper or should be changed. The Clerk was ordered to terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file. The order did not decide the merits of the conviction challenge or the apparent civil-rights claims.