Harge v. Roberson
- James Donato
- 3:20-cv-04663
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Harge v. Roberson, Judge Donato transferred the prisoner’s petition challenging a conviction to the Eastern District of California because the conviction occurred there.
Demaria C. Harge’s petition will proceed in the Eastern District of California rather than the Northern District of California; all pending motions were vacated.
What happened
Harge v. Roberson was filed by Demaria C. Harge, a state prisoner representing himself, to challenge a conviction from Stanislaus County Superior Court. Harge was incarcerated in the Northern District of California.
The court said that a petition challenging a conviction may be heard either where the prisoner is confined or where the conviction occurred. Because the conviction occurred in the Eastern District of California, the court transferred the case there. It also vacated all pending motions.
Judge James Donato issued the transfer order on September 1, 2020. The order addressed which federal district should hear the case and did not decide whether Harge’s conviction should be overturned.
The detailed version
- Harge v. Roberson · No. 3:20-cv-04663
- James Donato
- Sept. 1, 2020
Background
Demaria C. Harge, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition challenging a conviction obtained in Stanislaus County Superior Court. Harge was incarcerated in the Northern District of California.
Venue
Venue means the proper geographic court location for a case. The court explained that federal law permits a petition challenging a state conviction to be heard either in the district where the prisoner is confined or in the district where the conviction occurred. Stanislaus County is within the Eastern District of California.
The court stated that challenges to a conviction are preferably heard in the district where the conviction occurred. It therefore transferred the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241(d) and 1406(a), and the Northern District of California's habeas rules. The court also vacated all pending motions.
Ruling
The court entered an order of transfer. It did not rule on the merits of Harge's challenge to the conviction or state that the petition was granted or denied.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.