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N.D. Cal.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 23, 2020

Quair v. Garratt

Judge
James Donato
Docket
3:19-cv-08420
Court
U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
Pages
2
Civil RightsSection 1983Pro SeHabeas
In one sentence

In Quair v. Garratt, Judge Donato dismissed a prisoner’s civil-rights complaint as duplicative of his case challenging the same conviction.

Who this affects

David S Quair’s civil-rights action was dismissed as duplicative, and the clerk was requested to close the case. The order did not resolve the validity of his conviction or sentence.

What happened

In Quair v. Garratt, David S Quair, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a civil-rights complaint under federal law. He sought relief concerning his conviction and sentence from April 6, 2018, including a 39-month plea agreement.

The court noted that Quair had recently filed a separate case challenging the same conviction. It dismissed this civil-rights case as duplicative and requested that the clerk close it.

Judge James Donato issued the order on January 23, 2020. The order did not decide whether Quair’s conviction or sentence was valid.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Quair v. Garratt · No. 3:19-cv-08420
Judge
James Donato
Date
Jan. 23, 2020

Background

David S Quair, identified as a state prisoner, filed a civil-rights complaint without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee. The complaint sought relief concerning Quair’s underlying conviction and sentence from April 6, 2018, in connection with a 39-month plea agreement.

Court’s analysis

The court observed that Quair had recently filed a separate case challenging the same conviction. Because that case addressed the same underlying conviction, the court determined that this civil-rights action was duplicative. The order cited Adams v. California Department of Health Services, 487 F.3d 684, 688 (9th Cir. 2007).

Disposition

The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative and requested that the clerk close the case. The order did not decide the validity of Quair’s conviction, sentence, or plea agreement. Judge James Donato signed the order on January 23, 2020.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

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