[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Aug. 8, 2008
No. 07-11141 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 06-14108-CV-DLG
DONALD S. BALDWIN,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Walter A. McNeil, Secretary,
Respondent-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(August 8, 2008)
Before TJOFLAT, ANDERSON and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Petitioner is a Florida prison inmate serving a sentence of 25 years for
second degree murder. He petitioned the United States District Court for the
Middle District of Florida pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 for a writ of habeas
corpus. That court transferred the case to the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Florida under the erroneous belief that petitioner was
incarcerated in that district. The court below recognized the error but denied
petitioner’s motion to transfer the case back to the Middle District of Florida.
Petitioner now appeals the court’s decision. We issued a certificate of
appealability on the issue of whether the district court erred in denying petitioner’s
motion.
Section 2241 states:
Where an application for a writ of habeas corpus is made
by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence
of a State court of a State which contains two or more
Federal judicial districts, the application 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 him and each of such district courts shall have
concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The
district court for the district wherein such an application
is filed in the exercise of its discretion and in furtherance
of justice may transfer the application to the other district
court for hearing and determination.
28 U.S.C. § 2241(d) (emphasis added).
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Petitioner was convicted, sentenced, and is incarcerated in counties located
in the Middle District of Florida. Accordingly, the district court for that district
should entertain the instant petition. We therefore vacate the district court’s order
denying petitioner’s motion to transfer, and remand the case with the instruction
that the district court transfer the case to the Middle District of Florida.
SO ORDERED.
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