Norman John Craig v. Jim Thomas

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

NORMAN JOHN CRAIG, CASE NO. 2:21-cv-7358-DSF (SK)

Petitioner, ORDER DISMISSING PETITION

AND DENYING CERTIFICATE OF

v.

APPEALABILITY

JIM THOMAS,

Respondent.

Petitioner, a pretrial detainee at El Dorado County Jail, has filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 that names a former Santa Barbara County Sheriff as the respondent and seeks to collaterally attack two 35-year-old convictions from that county with no connection to his pretrial detention. (ECF 1 at 3-4; see also El Dorado Cnty. Jail Booking No. JN2101492). The petition must be dismissed because “it plainly appears from the face of the petition . . . that the petitioner is not entitled to relief.” L.R. 72-3.2. First, Petitioner has named the wrong respondent in Jim Thomas, the former Santa Barbara County Sheriff. The “proper respondent is the warden of the facility where the prisoner is being held.” Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 435 (2004). Failure to name the correct respondent deprives the Court of personal jurisdiction. See Smith v. Idaho, 392 F.3d 350, 354–55 (9th Cir. 2004). Second, even if Petitioner had named the right…