UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

ERIC COSOVIC, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : CIVIL NO. 4:CV-05-2111

:

: (Judge McClure) 

THE PEOPLE OF THE :

STATE OF NEW YORK, :

Respondent :

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

October 24, 2005

Background

Eric Cosovic, a/k/a Isad Cosovic (“Petitioner”), a detainee of the Bureau of

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) presently confined at the York

County Prison, York, Pennsylvania, filed this pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus

which is labeled as seeking relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The required filing fee

has been paid. Named as Respondent is “The People of the State of New York.” 

Record document no. 1, p. 1.

Cosovic identifies himself as being a native of Serbia/Montenegro. His present

petition does not directly contest the legality of his ICE removal proceedings or his

Case 4:05-cv-02111-JFM-JVW Document 2 Filed 10/24/05 Page 1 of 4
2

continued detention pending removal. Rather, his petition challenges the legality of his

2001 criminal conviction in the Supreme Court for Queens County, New York. 

Petitioner acknowledges that pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, he pled guilty to

a charge of Attempted Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. 

He was sentenced to a four (4) to eight (8) year term of incarceration on March 21,

2001. As a consequence of his criminal conviction, removal proceedings were

subsequently initiated against Cosovic.

Petitioner claims entitlement to federal habeas corpus relief on the grounds that

the attorney who represented him during his New York state criminal proceedings

provided ineffective assistance. He adds that his guilty plea “was unknowing and

involuntary.” Id. at p. 3. Included in the allegations of ineffective assistance is the

claim that Cosovic’s attorney failed to advise him of the immigration related

consequences of his guilty plea. As relief, he asks this Court to vacate his New York

state conviction.

Discussion

As noted above, Petitioner is attacking the legality of his New York state

criminal conviction. Consequently, since the petition is a challenge to a state court

conviction, it is actually seeking relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

It has been recognized that an application for habeas corpus relief under § 2254

Case 4:05-cv-02111-JFM-JVW Document 2 Filed 10/24/05 Page 2 of 4
3

made by a person in custody under the judgment of and sentence of a State court of a

State having two or more Federal judicial districts is properly filed either in the district

court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the

district within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced him and

each of those district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the

application. See 28 U.S.C. §2241(d). 

Although the Petitioner is presently confined within the jurisdiction of this Court,

his present § 2254 action challenges a conviction rendered by a state court which is

not located within this judicial district. Consequently, Cosovic’s present action is

properly brought in the district court within which the Supreme Court for Queens

County, New York is located. A court may transfer any civil action in the interest of

justice, to any district where the action could have been brought. 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). 

The United States Supreme Court in Hoffman v, Blaski, 363 U.S. 335, 343 (1960)

recognized that under § 1404(a), a civil action may be transferred by a district court to

another district court where that action may have been brought. 

The Supreme Court for Queens County, New York is located within the

confines of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The Southern District of New York is the proper forum within which to attack the

legality of Cosovic’s state conviction and also to answer the question of whether

Case 4:05-cv-02111-JFM-JVW Document 2 Filed 10/24/05 Page 3 of 4
4

Petitioner has exhausted his state court remedies. Pursuant to § 1404(a), this matter

will be transferred to the Southern District of New York. Consequently, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 

1. The Clerk of Court is directed to transfer this habeas corpus

petition to the United States District Court for the Southern District

of New York. 

 2. The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case.

 s/ James F. McClure, Jr. 

JAMES F. McCLURE, JR.

United States District Judge

Case 4:05-cv-02111-JFM-JVW Document 2 Filed 10/24/05 Page 4 of 4