UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

SOUTHERN DIVISION 

Petitioner Mark Abraitis filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court on 

November 11, 2014. (R. 1.) On April 7, 2015, this Court granted Abraitis’s motion for stay and 

abeyance to allow him to return to state court and exhaust new claims for relief. (R. 7.) Abraitis 

has now filed a motion amend his Petition, which the Court also construes as a motion to lift the 

stay, on February 23, 2017. (R. 11.) This motion will be GRANTED. 

The Court may reopen and reinstate a habeas proceeding upon a timely request from the 

Petitioner. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. Jones, 625 F. Supp. 2d 552, 560 (E.D. Mich. 2009). Petitioner 

represents that he has pursued his remedies in state court and has timely filed a motion to reopen 

his case. He has also attached an Amended Petition to his motion. The Amended Petition is 

therefore ripe for consideration. And the Court does not discern any prejudice in allowing the 

amendment. See Coe v. Bell, 161 F.3d 320, 341–42 (6th Cir. 1998).

1

 The Court hereby amends the case caption to reflect that the proper respondent in this 

case is now Connie Horton, the warden of the prison where Petitioner is currently incarcerated.

See Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 434-35 (2004); De Los Santos v. United States, 133 F. 

App'x 992, 993 (6th Cir. 2005); see also Rule 2(a), 28 foll. U.S.C. § 2254.

MARK ABRAITIS, 

 Petitioner, 

 

v. 

CONNIE HORTON,1

 Defendant. 

Case No. 14-cv-14434 

Honorable Laurie J. Michelson 

Magistrate Judge Mona K. Majzoub 

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO LIFT STAY AND AMEND 

PETITION [11] AND REOPENING CASE 

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2

Petitioner also filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis. (R. 13.) This Court 

already granted Petitioner in forma pauperis status (R. 3), and it does not appear that Petitioner’s 

financial situation has changed. Accordingly, to the extent it is not mooted by this Court’s prior 

order, Petitioner’s application will be GRANTED. 

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner’s motion to amend. (R. 11) is GRANTED. 

The Court directs the Clerk of Court to reopen this case to the Court’s active docket. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is 

GRANTED. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the case caption is AMENDED to reflect Connie 

Horton as the proper respondent. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that that Clerk of Court shall serve copies of the Petition 

(R. 1), Amended Petition (R. 12), and this Order on Respondent and the Attorney General by 

first class mail. Respondent shall file an answer and produce the Rule 5 materials within one 

hundred and eighty (180) days of this order. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner shall have forty five days from the date he 

receives the answer to file a reply brief. 

 s/Laurie J. Michelson 

 LAURIE J. MICHELSON 

Dated: March 2, 2017 U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record 

and any unrepresented parties via the Court=s ECF System to their respective email or First Class 

U.S. mail addresses disclosed on the Notice of Electronic Filing on March 2, 2017. 

s/Keisha Jackson 

Case Manager 

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