Johnson v. State of California
- Sallie Kim
- 3:22-cv-01569
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Johnson v. State of California, Judge Kim transferred Andrew Johnson’s conviction challenge to the Eastern District of California because that is where the conviction occurred.
Andrew Johnson’s federal habeas petition was moved from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California; the order did not decide the merits of his conviction challenge.
What happened
Andrew Johnson asked for federal review of a conviction from Solano County Superior Court in Johnson v. State of California. The opinion says Solano County is in the Eastern District of California.
Johnson was incarcerated at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, which is also in the Eastern District. Federal law allowed the case to be heard either where he was confined or where he was convicted, but conviction challenges are preferably heard in the district of conviction.
The court ordered the petition transferred to the Eastern District of California in the interest of justice. Judge Sallie Kim signed the order, and the clerk was directed to transfer the matter immediately.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. State of California · No. 3:22-cv-01569
- Sallie Kim
- Mar. 21, 2022
Background
Andrew Johnson sought federal habeas review of a conviction from Solano County Superior Court. The opinion states that Solano County is within the Eastern District of California. Johnson was incarcerated at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, in San Joaquin County, which is also within that district.
Venue
The court explained that federal law permits a habeas petition to be heard either in the district where the petitioner is confined or in the district where the conviction occurred. It further explained that petitions challenging a conviction, rather than the execution of a sentence, are preferably heard in the district of conviction.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and Habeas Local Rule 2254-3(b), the court ordered the petition transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in the interest of justice. The clerk was ordered to transfer the matter immediately. The order did not decide the substance of Johnson’s challenge to his conviction.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.