Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-01964/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-01964-3/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Mike Evans
Respondent
Victor Lee Severance
Petitioner

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

VICTOR LEE SEVERANCE,

Petitioner, No. CIV S-06-1964 FCD KJM P

vs.

MIKE EVANS, Warden,

Respondent. ORDER

 /

Petitioner is a state prison inmate proceeding pro se with a petition for a writ of

habeas corpus challenging his Sacramento County conviction for robbery and his sentence of

119 years to life. 

The petition raises the following grounds: (1) the denial of his right to a jury trial

on the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (raised in grounds one and two of the petition);

and (2) denial of his right to represent himself during the sanity phase of the trial. Respondent

filed an answer to the petition on April 12, 2007.

On May 10, 2007, petitioner filed a motion to add the following grounds to his

petition: (1) the Superior Court failed to order a psychiatric evaluation when he initially entered

his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, so evidence of his mental state closer in time to the

offenses was lost; (2) the trial court refused to allow him to present evidence in support of his

Case 2:06-cv-01964-FCD-KJM Document 19 Filed 08/17/07 Page 1 of 2
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defense, causing him to concede his guilt and throw himself on the mercy of the jury; (3) the

denial of the right to effective assistance of counsel, however, the basis of this claim is not

entirely clear since plaintiff also suggests that he was representing himself; (4) he was not

competent during the pretrial proceedings, causing him to reject a plea offer of a single term of

twenty-five-years-to-life; (5) a single robbery was improperly charged as two robberies because

there were two cashiers at the check stand; (6) his record was used against him; (7) ineffective

assistance of counsel on appeal, stemming from counsel’s refusal to raise the six preceding

issues; (8) ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial on his NGI plea; (9) use of

inadmissible evidence at the NGI trial; (10) two of petitioner’s witnesses died between his first

and second trials; (11) ineffective assistance of appellate counsel on his second appeal. 

It does not appear that petitioner has exhausted his state remedies on these eleven

claims by giving the California Supreme Court an opportunity to review them. Nor has he made

the showing required by Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 278 (2005), before this court may enter

a stay of these proceedings to allow petitioner to return to the state court to exhaust. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner’s May 10, 2007 motion

to add additional grounds for relief to his habeas petition is denied. 

DATED: August 16, 2007. 

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seve1964.amd

Case 2:06-cv-01964-FCD-KJM Document 19 Filed 08/17/07 Page 2 of 2