Coneal v. Smith
- William Orrick
- 3:21-cv-03421
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Coneal v. Smith, Judge Orrick stayed Jerry Coneal’s federal habeas case while he exhausts claims in state court.
Jerry Coneal, whose federal habeas action was stayed and administratively closed pending his pursuit of unexhausted claims in state court; Laurie Smith is the respondent.
What happened
In Coneal v. Smith, Jerry Coneal told the court that he wanted to pause his federal habeas case so he could pursue some claims in state court.
The court stayed the case under the procedure described in Rhines v. Webber. No further action will occur until the court permits it or Coneal satisfies the conditions for ending the stay. The court also administratively closed the file while the stay is in place.
Within 90 days after receiving a decision from the state supreme court on his unexhausted claims, Coneal must file a motion to end the stay and reopen the federal case. Judge William H. Orrick ordered that the motion include an amended petition containing all exhausted claims he wishes to present and no unexhausted claims.
The detailed version
- Coneal v. Smith · No. 3:21-cv-03421
- William Orrick
- May 4, 2022
Background
Petitioner Jerry Coneal informed the court that he wanted to stay his federal habeas action so that he could exhaust some claims in state court. Exhaustion means giving the state courts an opportunity to decide those claims before pursuing them in federal court.
Ruling
The court stayed the federal habeas action under the procedure described in Rhines v. Webber. The court stated that nothing further would occur in the case until it decided that further action was appropriate or Coneal met the conditions for dissolving the stay. The Clerk was directed to administratively close the file while the action remained stayed.
Conditions for Reopening
Within 90 days after obtaining a decision from the state supreme court on his unexhausted claims, Coneal must file a motion to dissolve the stay and reopen the federal proceedings. The first page must include the words “MOTION TO REOPEN.” The motion must include an amended petition on the court’s form, with the caption and civil case number used in the order.
The amended petition will replace the earlier petitions. It must include all exhausted claims Coneal wishes to present. Coneal may not incorporate material from an earlier petition by reference and may not include unexhausted claims.
Disposition
Judge William H. Orrick ordered the action stayed and the file administratively closed pending the stay. The order did not decide the merits of Coneal’s habeas claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.