Price
(HC) Cruz v. Price
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 PETER CASEY CRUZ, Case No. 1:18-cv-01360-JLT-CDB (HC)
Petitioner, ORDER DISMISSING PETITION AS MOOT
DUE TO DEATH OF PETITIONER
v.
BRANDON PRICE, Respondent. 16 17 Peter Casey Cruz filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 while he was a pretrial detainee in state custody at Coalinga State Hospital. (Doc. 1.) The action was transferred to this Court on October 1, 2018. (Doc. 4.) A motion to dismiss was granted and judgment entered on May 3, 2019. (Docs. 23, 24.) The matter was remanded in part on April 25, 2022. (Docs. 32, 33.) Further proceedings were ongoing when, on April 27, 2025, counsel for petitioner filed a notice indicating that Mr. Cruz passed away on April 16, 2025, as evidenced by the attached death certificate. (Doc. 86.) A habeas petition must be dismissed on mootness grounds when the court can no longer offer an effective remedy. See Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998). A court may dismiss a habeas petition…