Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_19-cv-07700/USCOURTS-cand-3_19-cv-07700-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 540
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Mandamus and Other
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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United States District Court 

Northern District of Californi

a

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

PAUL C. BOLIN, E88100, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

XAVIER BECERRA, et al., 

Defendants. 

Case No. 19-cv-07700-CRB (PR) 

ORDER OF DISMISSAL 

(ECF No. 3) 

Plaintiff, a state prisoner incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison’s (SQSP) death row and 

a frequent litigant in federal court, submitted for filing a pleading entitled “Demand for Statutory 

Default Judgment” (ECF No. 1 at 1) the clerk filed as a new civil action. Although plaintiff 

claims that his pleading is a demand for default rather than a civil action, it’s clear from the 

pleading that he seeks damages from the state attorney general and various other individuals 

connected with his 1991 conviction and death sentence from Kern County Superior Court on the 

ground that defendants’ “failure to declare the petitioner’s judgment void in Kern County Superior 

Court” as mandated by law constitutes “a default.” ECF No. 1 at 2. 

To the extent plaintiff seeks damages based on actions or omissions that would render his 

conviction or sentence invalid, his civil action or demand for default is barred under the rationale 

of Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), until his conviction or sentence first is reversed on 

direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make 

such determination, or called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. 

See 512 U.S. at 486-87. And to the extent plaintiff seeks to challenge the validity of his 

conviction or sentence, his sole remedy is to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 

U.S.C. § 2254. See Calderon v. Ashmus, 523 U.S. 740, 747 (1998). Plaintiff’s civil action or 

demand for default accordingly is DISMISSED without prejudice. 

Case 3:19-cv-07700-CRB Document 5 Filed 01/10/20 Page 1 of 3
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United States District Court 

Northern District of Californi

a

The clerk is instructed to close the file and terminate all pending motions as moot. But 

based solely on his affidavit of poverty, plaintiff’s application for leave to proceed IFP (ECF No. 

3) is GRANTED. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: January 10, 2020 

______________________________________ 

CHARLES R. BREYER 

United States District Judge 

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United States District Court 

Northern District of Californi

a

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

PAUL C. BOLIN, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

XAVIER BECERRA, et al., 

Defendants. 

Case No. 3:19-cv-07700-CRB 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 

District Court, Northern District of California. 

That on January 10, 2020, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by 

placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by 

depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery 

receptacle located in the Clerk's office. 

Paul C. Bolin ID: E-88100 

San Quentin State Prison 3EY12

San Quentin, CA 94974 

Dated: January 10, 2020 

Susan Y. Soong 

Clerk, United States District Court 

By:________________________ 

Lashanda Scott, Deputy Clerk to the 

Honorable CHARLES R. BREYER 

Case 3:19-cv-07700-CRB Document 5 Filed 01/10/20 Page 3 of 3