Van Huisen v. County of Alameda
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:23-cv-03255
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Van Huisen v. County of Alameda, Magistrate Judge Barnes transferred the prisoner’s habeas case without ruling on his request to proceed without paying filing fees.
Gregory Scott Van Huisen’s federal challenge to his Alameda County conviction was transferred to the Northern District of California; the court did not rule on his request to proceed without paying the filing fee.
What happened
Gregory Scott Van Huisen, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition challenging an Alameda County Superior Court conviction. He also asked to proceed without paying the filing fee.
The court explained that both it and the federal court in the district where the conviction occurred could hear the petition. But the witnesses and evidence needed to resolve it were more readily available in Alameda County.
The court had not ruled on Van Huisen’s fee request and transferred the matter to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order was signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes.
The detailed version
- Van Huisen v. County of Alameda · No. 4:23-cv-03255
- Yvonne Rogers
- June 26, 2023
Background
Gregory Scott Van Huisen, identified as a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petition challenged a conviction issued by the Superior Court of Alameda. Van Huisen also requested permission to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Transfer
The court stated that both the Eastern District of California and the federal district court in the district where Van Huisen was convicted had jurisdiction to consider the petition. It determined that the witnesses and evidence needed to resolve the petition were more readily available in Alameda County. Relying on that consideration and 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), the court found that transferring the matter would further justice.
Disposition
The court ordered that it had not ruled on Van Huisen’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and transferred the matter to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order was signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes. It did not decide the merits of Van Huisen’s challenge to his conviction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.