Patton v. Price
- Jacquelyn Corley
- 3:23-cv-00012
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Patton v. Price, Judge Corley dismissed Patton’s habeas petition with leave to amend because it raised claims barred after his guilty plea.
Billy Patton’s federal challenge to his state conviction was dismissed, but he was allowed to file an amended petition addressing claims that remain available after a guilty plea.
What happened
In Patton v. Price, Billy Patton, a California prisoner without a lawyer, challenged his conviction, sentence enhancement, and a state judge’s decision involving his competency before trial. He filed the challenge under a federal law allowing prisoners to contest unconstitutional state custody.
The court said Patton’s claims concerned events that happened before his guilty plea. A guilty plea generally prevents a federal habeas challenge to earlier constitutional violations; the remaining claims generally concern whether the plea was voluntary and informed or whether defense counsel’s advice led to the plea. The court therefore found that the petition did not state a valid claim for federal relief.
Judge Corley dismissed the petition with leave to amend. Patton may file an amended petition within 28 days raising valid claims about the character of his guilty plea or his lawyer’s advice, and failure to amend as ordered may result in dismissal of the action.
The detailed version
- Patton v. Price · No. 3:23-cv-00012
- Jacquelyn Corley
- Feb. 9, 2023
Background
Billy Patton, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state-court conviction. The opinion states that he had paid the filing fee. His claims challenged his conviction for assault to commit rape, a great-bodily-injury sentence enhancement, and a state judge’s decision to make a motion concerning whether he was competent to stand trial.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that federal habeas relief under Section 2254 is available when a person is held in violation of the Constitution, federal laws, or treaties. It concluded that the alleged constitutional violations occurred before Patton pleaded guilty.
Relying on Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent, the court held that a guilty plea generally prevents a person from raising pre-plea constitutional violations in a federal habeas proceeding. After a guilty plea, the claims generally still available concern whether the plea was voluntary and informed and the nature of any advice from defense counsel that led to the plea.
Because Patton’s petition did not state a valid federal habeas claim, the court dismissed it. The court allowed Patton to amend by asserting claims that can be heard in a federal habeas proceeding, including claims challenging the voluntary and informed character of his guilty plea or the advice he received from his defense lawyer, provided he can make those claims in good faith.
Disposition
The petition was dismissed with leave to amend. Patton was ordered to file an amended petition within 28 days of the order. The amended petition must use the case caption and civil case number specified in the order and include the words “COURT-ORDERED FIRST AMENDED PETITION” on its first page. It must replace the original petition and may not incorporate the original petition by reference. The court warned that failure to amend as required may result in dismissal of the action. It also stated that Patton must prosecute the case, keep the court informed of any address change, and comply with court orders; failure to do so may result in dismissal for failure to prosecute. Judge Jacquelyn Corley signed the order on February 9, 2023.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.