Trammell v. State of California
- Edward Davila
- 5:21-cv-00520
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Trammell v. State of California, Judge Davila transferred the petition to the Eastern District of California because the conviction arose in Stanislaus County.
The case was moved from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California for further proceedings concerning Nicholas Kenneth Trammell's petition challenging his state conviction.
What happened
Nicholas Kenneth Trammell, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition challenging his state conviction from Stanislaus County in the Northern District of California.
The court explained that a state-prisoner petition may be heard where the prisoner is confined or where the conviction occurred. Trammell was confined in San Bernardino County, but his conviction was from Stanislaus County, which is in the Eastern District of California.
In Trammell v. State of California, Judge Edward J. Davila transferred the case to the Eastern District of California and directed the Clerk to terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file.
The detailed version
- Trammell v. State of California · No. 5:21-cv-00520
- Edward Davila
- Jan. 27, 2021
Background
Nicholas Kenneth Trammell, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state conviction from Stanislaus County. He filed the petition in the Northern District of California. The opinion states that Trammell was confined at the California Institution for Men in Chino, in San Bernardino County.
Venue
The court explained that federal law permits a state-prisoner petition to be heard either in the federal district where the prisoner is confined or in the district where the prisoner was convicted. The court also noted that California federal courts traditionally hear challenges to a conviction or sentence in the district where the conviction or sentencing occurred. Stanislaus County is within the Eastern District of California.
Ruling
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 venue-transfer statute. The Clerk was directed to terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file. The order did not address the merits of Trammell's conviction challenge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.