Romero v. Covello
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:21-cv-07396
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Romero v. Covello, Judge Cota transferred Romero’s state-prisoner petition challenging his conviction or sentence to the Northern District of California.
Carlos Romero’s petition was transferred from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California; the order did not decide his underlying challenge.
What happened
Carlos Romero, who was representing himself in state prison, filed a petition challenging a conviction or sentence from the Alameda County Superior Court. The court did not decide whether the challenge was valid.
The court explained that both the district where the conviction occurred and the district where the prisoner is held could hear the petition. Because the witnesses and evidence were more readily available in Alameda County, the court transferred the matter to the Northern District of California.
Judge Dennis M. Cota ordered the transfer on September 22, 2021. The order did not decide the petition’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Romero v. Covello · No. 4:21-cv-07396
- Yvonne Rogers
- Sept. 22, 2021
Background
Carlos Romero, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging a conviction and/or sentence issued by the Alameda County Superior Court. The opinion does not provide further details about the conviction, sentence, or claims.
Transfer decision
The court explained that, under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), both the federal district where the conviction occurred and the federal district where the prisoner is confined have concurrent jurisdiction, meaning both courts can potentially hear the petition. The court determined that the matter should be transferred because witnesses and evidence needed to resolve the petition were more readily available in Alameda County, which lies within the Northern District of California.
Disposition
The court ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not reach the merits of Romero’s challenge to his conviction or sentence.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.