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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ANTONIO ESPINOZA, No. 2:94-cv-1665 KJM DB Petitioner, v. ORDER WARDEN, Respondent. 16 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding through counsel with a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. §2254. Before the court is petitioner’s counsel’s motion to have petitioner declared incompetent and for appointment of a guardian ad litem under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17. (ECF No. 309.) Respondent has informed the court that they take no position on the motion. (ECF No. 323.) After hearing petitioner’s counsel’s argument, this court determined that the appropriate first step in considering counsel’s motion was to conduct an in- person hearing to question petitioner about his understanding of these proceedings and whether he consents to the appointment of a guardian ad litem (the “notice hearing”). This court also noted

1 When petitioner filed this action, he was under a sentence of death. In 2018,…