Hixton

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STEVEN MICHAEL LOPEZ, Case No. 1:23-cv-01368-JLT-EPG-HC

Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO

GRANT RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO

v. DISMISS AND DISMISS PETITION FOR

WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS WITHOUT

KEVIN HIXTON, PREJUDICE

Respondent. (ECF No. 7)

16 Petitioner Steven Michael Lopez, represented by counsel, is a state prisoner proceeding with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his 2019 Tulare County Superior Court convictions. Based on abstention principles, the undersigned recommends granting Respondent’s motion to dismiss and dismissing the petition without prejudice. I. BACKGROUND Petitioner was convicted after a jury trial in the Tulare County Superior Court of discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle, battery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. (ECF No. 1 at 21; LD2 1.) The jury also found true firearm and…