Stanley

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 14, 2002, Leavitt filed papers seeking to dis- qualify appointed counsel for capital habeas corpus petitioner Gerald F. Stanley (“Stanley”) and to substitute himself as counsel of record. This was Leavitt’s second attempt to sub- stitute himself in federal court; the first was denied in 1998. Multiple similar requests during state habeas proceedings were denied by the California Supreme Court in 2001.

On October 22, 2002, the Magistrate Judge rejected the substitution, finding that on July 29, 2002, Stanley had in writing authorized his counsel to pursue habeas relief by fil- ing an amended petition. The court found that “petitioner Stanley has no present credibility on the issue of whether he authorized the most recent federal amended petition to be filed.” Over a seven-year period, Stanley did “nothing but change his mind back and forth” regarding his desire to pur- sue habeas proceedings. The Magistrate Judge concluded that Stanley “learned from his state trial court proceedings that expressing conflicting viewpoints on his competency, or in his instructions to his lawyers, could tie the courts in knots.” STANLEY v. WOODFORD …