Lupercio v. Office of the Clerk of Court
- Nathanael Cousins
- 5:22-cv-01727
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Lupercio v. Office of the Clerk of Court, Judge Cousins transferred the conviction challenge to the Eastern District of California without deciding its merits.
Ramon Navarro Lupercio's petition was moved from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California; the pending motions were terminated and the case file was transferred.
What happened
Ramon Navarro Lupercio filed a petition challenging his state conviction from the Superior Court of Tulare County. The case was brought against the Office of the Clerk of Court.
Because Tulare County is in the Eastern District of California, that district was the preferred location for hearing the petition. The court explained that such petitions may be heard where the prisoner is confined or where the conviction occurred.
Judge Nathanael M. Cousins transferred the case to the Eastern District of California and directed the Clerk to terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file. The court did not decide the challenge to Lupercio's conviction.
The detailed version
- Lupercio v. Office of the Clerk of Court · No. 5:22-cv-01727
- Nathanael Cousins
- Mar. 22, 2022
Background
Ramon Navarro Lupercio, identified as a state prisoner at San Quentin State Prison, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging a state conviction from the Superior Court of Tulare County.
Venue
The court explained that venue for a petition challenging a state conviction may be proper either in the federal district where the prisoner is confined or in the district where the conviction occurred. But petitions challenging a conviction or sentence are preferably heard in the district of conviction. Because Lupercio challenged a conviction from Tulare County, the Eastern District of California was the district of conviction.
Disposition
The court transferred the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). It also directed the Clerk to terminate all pending motions and transfer the entire file. The order did not decide the merits of Lupercio's challenge to his conviction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.