William Mello v. W. L. Montgomery

I.

INTRODUCTION

On September 30, 2019, William Mello (“Petitioner”) constructively filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (“Petition”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his 1989 convictions. The Petition appears subject to dismissal because it is second and successive. The Court will not make a final determination regarding whether the Petition should be dismissed, however, without giving Petitioner an opportunity to address this issue.

II.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On November 9, 1989, Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, and robbery after a jury trial in Riverside County Superior Court. Pet., dkt. 1 at 2. Petitioner was sentenced to state prison for a term of life without the possibility of parole. Id.; Pet., dkt. 1-6 at 6-7. ///

1 The Court cites to the pages of the Petition as they are paginated on the Court’s electronic docketing system. Petitioner appealed his convictions to the California Court of Appeal, which affirmed the judgment in a reasoned decision on July 12, 1991. California Courts, Appellate Courts Case Information, Docket, https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=…