Headen v. United States

FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT CoURT APR 2 3 2013 FoR THE D1STRICT oF CoLUMBIA C'€"<» U»S~ Disf'i=f & Ba~kwprcy Courts for the Dlstrlct of Columbia Christopher Mark Headen, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v ) Civil Action No. l ~' / L{ 7 , 3 5 ) United States of America et al. , ) ) Respondents. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION Petitioner, proceeding pro se, has submitted an application for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, along with an application to proceed irz forma pauperis. The Court will grant the application to proceed in forma pauperis and will dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction Petitioner is a North Carolina state prisoner incarcerated at the Johnston Correctional Institution in Smithfield, North Carolina. He is challenging his state conviction entered on March 18, 2013. Federal court review of state convictions is available under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 only after the exhaustion of available state remedies. See 28 U.S.C. §2254(b)(l). Thereafter, "an application for a writ of habeas corpus [] made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court . . . may be filed 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 [petitioner] and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application." 28 U.S.C. § 224l(d). Because petitioner has no recourse in the District of Columbia, this action will be dismissed. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. / ¢ Uni State, istr”ict Judge Date: April __Q_, 2013 `jgpé$%