Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-01462/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-01462-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 28:2254 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (State)

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19cv1462-LAB (KSC)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MIGUEL ANGEL SANCHEZ,

Petitioner,

v.

PATRICK COVELLO, Warden,

Respondent.

Case No.: 19cv1462-LAB (KSC)

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR 

WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE 

AND DENYING APPLICATION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS AS 

MOOT

Petitioner, a state prisoner incarcerated at the R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility 

(“RJDCF”) in San Diego, California, and proceeding pro se, has submitted a Petition for a 

Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, together with a copy of his inmate 

trust account statement which the Court construes as a request to proceed in forma pauperis. 

(ECF Nos. 1-2.) Petitioner claims the RJDCF staff has inspected and torn his incoming 

mail and lost or damaged his personal property in order to harass him, apparently as a result 

of an inmate grievance he filed in 2018, and seeks a restraining order preventing them from 

continuing to do so. (ECF No. 1 at 3-8.) Petitioner previously filed an identical habeas 

petition in this Court on July 24, 2019. See Pet. filed July 24, 2019 [ECF No. 1] in 

So.Dist.Ca. Civil Case No. 19cv1383-CAB (KSC). That Petition was dismissed on July 

26, 2019, on the basis that his claim does not lie within the core of habeas corpus because 

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19cv1462-LAB (KSC)

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success on the merits would not necessarily affect the duration of his confinement, and 

therefore must be brought, if at all, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Order filed 7/26/19 [ECF 

No. 3] in So.Dist.Ca. Civil Case No. 19cv1383-CAB (KSC). The dismissal was without 

prejudice to Petitioner to present his claim in a civil rights complaint if he wished to do so. 

Id.

The Court may dismiss a duplicative petition as frivolous if it “merely repeats 

pending or previously litigated claims.” Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1105 n.2 (9th 

Cir. 1995) (citations omitted). Here, Petitioner has filed two identical petitions with this 

Court which contain the exact same claim. Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES this case 

because the Petition in this case is duplicative of that filed in So.Dist.Ca. Civil Case No. 

19cv1383-CAB (KSC).) The dismissal is without prejudice to Petitioner to present his 

claim in a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if he wishes to do so. The 

application to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED as moot. The Clerk of Court shall 

close the file.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 6, 2019

Hon. Larry Alan Burns

Chief United States District Judge

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