Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-04979/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-04979-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Joel Martinez
Defendant
Esayas Kebedom Yohannes
Plaintiff

Document Text:

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ESAYAS KEBEDOM YOHANNES,

Plaintiff,

v.

JOEL MARTINEZ,

Defendant.

Case No. 16-cv-04979-JD 

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 

STAY AND 

ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING 

CASE

Re: Dkt. Nos. 2, 4

Esayas Kebedom Yohannes, a California prisoner, filed a pro se petition for a writ of 

habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and a motion to stay to exhaust further claims. He 

also applied for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Petitioner was convicted in Alameda County, 

which is in this district, so venue is proper here. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d).

Petitioner has filed a motion for a stay of this action so that he may exhaust state court 

remedies for four claims1in his habeas petition that he wishes to present to this Court. The Court 

grants the motion to stay. Liberally construing the motion, petitioner has shown good cause for 

his failure to exhaust the claims before filing this action, the claims do not appear patently 

meritless, and there does not appear to be any intentionally dilatory litigation tactic by petitioner. 

See Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 277-78 (2005). Petitioner is informed that before he may 

challenge either the fact or length of his confinement in a habeas petition in this court, he must 

present to the California Supreme Court any claims he wishes to raise in this Court. See Rose v. 

Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 522 (1982) (holding every claim raised in federal habeas petition must be 

exhausted). 

 

1 Claims six thru nine in the petition. Docket No. 1

Case 3:16-cv-04979-JD Document 5 Filed 09/29/16 Page 1 of 3
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

CONCLUSION

1. Petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Docket No. 4) is GRANTED.

2. Petitioner’s motion for a stay (Docket No. 2) is GRANTED and this case is STAYED

to allow petitioner to present his unexhausted claims in state court. If petitioner is not granted 

relief in state court, he may return to this Court and ask that the stay be lifted. 

3. The stay is subject to the following conditions: 

(1) Petitioner must diligently pursue his state court habeas proceedings; and 

(2) Petitioner must notify this Court within thirty days after the state courts have completed 

their review of his claim or after they have refused review of his claims. 

If either condition of the stay is not satisfied, this Court may vacate the stay and act on this 

petition. See Rhines, 544 U.S. at 278 (district court must effectuate timeliness concerns of 

AEDPA by placing “reasonable limits on a petitioner’s trip to state court and back.”).

The Clerk shall administratively close this case. The closure has no legal effect; it is 

purely a statistical matter. The case will be reopened and the stay vacated upon notification by 

petitioner in accordance with section (3) above.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: September 29, 2016

JAMES DONATO

United States District Judge

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ESAYAS KEBEDOM YOHANNES,

Plaintiff,

v.

JOEL MARTINEZ,

Defendant.

Case No. 16-cv-04979-JD 

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 September 29, 2016, 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.

Esayas Kebedom Yohannes ID: AH2309

Sierra Conservation Center

5150 O'Byrnes Ferry Rd.

5C-144

Jamestown, CA 95327 

Dated: September 29, 2016

Susan Y. Soong

Clerk, United States District Court

By:________________________

LISA R. CLARK, Deputy Clerk to the 

Honorable JAMES DONATO

Case 3:16-cv-04979-JD Document 5 Filed 09/29/16 Page 3 of 3