Loyd v. Spearmen
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:18-cv-07228
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Loyd v. McDowell, Judge Gilliam denied amendment without prejudice and denied as moot a duplicate extension request.
Daniel Ray Loyd, the self-represented petitioner, must file an amended petition containing all his federal habeas claims within 28 days if he wants to add the denial-of-counsel claim while preserving the six existing claims. The previously named respondent was replaced by Neil McDowell.
What happened
Daniel Ray Loyd’s habeas case, Loyd v. McDowell, challenges his state-court convictions and life-without-parole sentence. He asked to add a claim that he was denied counsel.
The court said the proposed amended petition would leave out six claims already found suitable for review, which could waive those claims. It therefore denied the amendment request without prejudice and gave Loyd 28 days to file a petition containing all seven claims. The court also denied as moot his duplicate request for more time because an earlier request had already been granted.
Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. also ordered the clerk to substitute Neil McDowell for the previously named respondent. The original petition remains operative if Loyd does not file the required amended petition.
The detailed version
- Loyd v. Spearmen · No. 4:18-cv-07228
- Haywood Gilliam
- Nov. 23, 2020
Background
Daniel Ray Loyd filed the case without a lawyer under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal law allowing a state prisoner to challenge a state-court judgment. His operative petition challenges a 2016 Lake County Superior Court conviction for first-degree murder, firearm use, being a felon in possession of a firearm, attempted robbery, and a sentence of life without parole.
The court had previously identified six claims that could proceed: alleged jury-instruction errors concerning felony murder, causation, and lesser-included offenses; the court’s failure to read requested closing-argument material to the jury; admission of a custodial statement after Loyd invoked his right to counsel; ineffective assistance of trial counsel; and cumulative error from counsel’s alleged mistakes.
Loyd later filed another federal petition challenging the same conviction and adding a claim that he was denied counsel, which he distinguished from ineffective assistance of counsel. Because the earlier petition was already pending, the court treated the later filing as a request to amend the pending petition rather than as a separate second petition.
Requests and rulings
The court denied without prejudice Loyd’s motion to file the later petition as the first amended petition. The court explained that an amended petition generally replaces the earlier petition and can waive claims left out of the amended version. Because the proposed amendment would have omitted the six claims already found cognizable, the court directed Loyd to file, within 28 days, an amended petition containing all of his federal habeas claims related to the 2016 conviction. If he does not do so, the original petition will remain operative.
The court denied as moot Loyd’s duplicative request for an extension of time to file his traverse, a written response to the respondent’s answer. The court noted that the same extension request had already been granted, and that the traverse was due February 2, 2021.
The court also directed the clerk to substitute Neil McDowell, identified as the current warden of Ironwood State Prison, for the previously named respondent.
Effect of the order
This order addressed the form and management of Loyd’s habeas case. It did not decide whether his conviction or sentence violated federal law. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. terminated docket entries 33 and 34.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.