describing consequences of voluntary 3 | dismissals pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)
How later courts described this case
- describing consequences of voluntary 3 | dismissals pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 ERIC WILTON BURTON, Case No. 1:25-cv-01454-KES-EPG-HC
11 Petitioner, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT
TO TERMINATE PETITIONER’S MOTION
12 v. TO DISMISS AND CLOSE CASE
13 RAUL MORALES, (ECF No. 11)
14 Respondent.
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16 Petitioner Eric Wilton Burton is proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas
17 corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
18 On October 16, 2025, the Ninth Circuit ordered that Petitioner’s application for
19 authorization to file a second or successive § 2254 petition challenging the Board of Parole
20 Hearings’ 2025 decision denying parole be transferred to the United States District Court for the
21 Eastern District of California to be processed as a § 2254 petition. (ECF No. 1.) On October 31,
22 2025, the petition was transferred to the Fresno Division. (ECF No. 6.)
23 On November 18, 2025, the Court received the instant motion to dismiss the entire case
24 filed by Petitioner. (ECF No. 11.) Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil
25 Procedure, “the plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order by filing . . . a notice of
26 dismissal before the opposing party serves either an answer or a motion for summary judgment.”
27 Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i). Voluntary dismissal under this rule grants a plaintiff an absolute
right to dismiss without prejudice, requires no action on the part of the court, and divests the
1 | court of jurisdiction upon the filing of the notice of voluntary dismissal. See United States v. 475
2 | Martin Lane, 545 F.3d 1134, 1145 (9th Cir. 2008) (describing consequences of voluntary
3 | dismissals pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)).
4 In this case, Respondent has not served either an answer or a motion for summary
5 | judgment. Therefore, Petitioner’s notice of dismissal was effective upon filing and without a
6 | court order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)().
7 For the sake of clarity, in light of Petitioner’s notice of dismissal, IT IS HEREBY
8 | ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to:
9 1. TERMINATE Petitioner’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 11); and
10 2. CLOSE the case.
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Db IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: _November 19, 2025 [see ey
14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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