Calderon

Calderon petitions us for a writ of mandamus directing the district court to vacate its January 18, 1996, discovery order, and to forbid any discovery until Hill files a petition for writ of habeas corpus that presents properly exhausted claims. Because this case is indistinguishable from Calderon v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal., 98 F.3d 1102 (9th Cir.1996) (Nicolaus), we grant the petition.

I

The Supreme Court of California affirmed Hill’s death sentence in People v. Hill, 3 Cal.4th 959 , 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 475 , 839 P.2d 984 (1992), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 963 , 114 S.Ct. 438 , 126 L.Ed.2d 372 (1993). Instead of seeking habeas corpus relief in state court, Hill filed a motion for appointment of counsel in federal court on February 24, 1994. That same day, the district court stayed Hill’s execution date, and subsequently appointed counsel on June 9, 1994. Eighteen months later, on November 15, 1995, Hill moved to inspect the files of the Alameda County District Attorney and the Oakland Police Department that pertained to his case. The district court ordered the discovery on January 18, 1996, even though Hill had yet to file a petition for habeas corpus relief…