UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 STEVEN SERNA, AV6671, Case No. 19-cv-02618-CRB (PR)
Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR
STAY AND ADMINISTRATIVELY
v. CLOSING CASE
PATRICK COVELLO, Warden, (ECF No. 65) Respondent.
I. Petitioner, a state prisoner incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP), has filed a pro se motion for a stay under Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005), to allow him to exhaust two new claims of ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. For the reasons set forth below, the motion will be granted. II. Petitioner was convicted by a jury in Contra Costa County Superior Court of perpetrating various sex crimes against his 10-year-old daughter in three separate incidents during the summer of 2012. On December 19, 2014, he was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in state prison. Petitioner unsuccessfully appealed his conviction…