Prellwitz

Joshua M. Salzman, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, D.C., for the petitioner-appellee.

Christopher J. Rench, Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for the respondent-appellant.

Before: DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, SUSAN P. GRABER, and CARLOS T. BEA, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge GRABER, Concurrence by Judge O'SCANNLAIN.

GRABER, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Steven Prellwitz filed a petition for habeas corpus, challenging the California Board of Parole Hearings' ("Board") denial of his parole. Defendant, Warden D.K. Sisto, appeals the district court's order instructing the Board to conduct a new parole hearing. Because the district court's order was not a final decision, we dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

In 1985, Petitioner was convicted in California state court on two counts of murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 18 years to life. In December 2005, the Board denied him parole. Petitioner unsuccessfully pursued habeas relief through the state courts.

On November 29, 2006, Petitioner filed in federal district court a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which…