Jackson v. Capra
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:22-cv-03357
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Jackson v. Capra, Judge Netburn granted Jackson’s request to pause his habeas case while he pursued additional state claims.
Raphael Jackson’s federal habeas petition was stayed and held in abeyance while he pursued additional claims in state court; Michael Capra remained the respondent.
What happened
In Jackson v. Capra, Raphael Jackson asked the court to pause his habeas petition so he could pursue additional claims in state court through a motion under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10.
The court agreed to hold the petition in abeyance while the state-court proceedings took place. The opinion also allowed Jackson to amend his federal petition to add the additional claims if the state court rejected them.
Judge Sarah Netburn granted the motion to stay and ordered Jackson to file a status letter within 30 days after a final decision on his state-court motion.
The detailed version
- Jackson v. Capra · No. 1:22-cv-03357
- Lorna Schofield
- Aug. 12, 2022
Background
Raphael Jackson filed a letter seeking to stay his federal habeas petition while he exhausted additional claims in state court through a motion under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10. The opinion cites the rule that a federal habeas case may be stayed and held in abeyance when the petitioner has good cause for not exhausting claims earlier and the claims are not plainly meritless.
Court’s ruling
The court granted Jackson’s motion to stay. It ordered that the habeas matter remain stayed and that the petition be held in abeyance while Jackson pursued the additional claims in state court. The court also granted Jackson permission under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) to amend the petition to include those claims if the state court rejected them. Finally, the court ordered Jackson to file a status letter within 30 days after a final decision on his § 440.10 motion.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.