Garcia v. Murphree

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS LUBBOCK DIVISION DANIEL RAY GARCIA, Institutional ID No. 2354476 Plaintiff, V. No. 5:21-CV-00087-H SUSAN MURPHREE, Defendant. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO DISMISS Plaintiff Daniel Ray Garcia filed a motion to dismiss this civil-rights action without prejudice. (See Dkt. No. 18.) Plaintiff explains that he “only wishes to proceed” in another civil-rights action that is pending before the Court.' (/d.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i) permits a plaintiff to dismiss an action without a court order by filing a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either

an answer or a motion for summary judgment. See Welsh v. Correct Care, L.L.C., 915 F.3d 341, 344 (5th Cir. 2019). After reviewing Plaintiff's motion and the procedural posture of this case, the Court concludes that Plaintiff's motion serves as a self-executing notice of voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)@). However, the Court further concludes that, although Plaintiff no longer wishes to pursue this action, this dismissal does not release him or the institution where he is confined from continuing to pay the filing fee previously imposed by the Court. See Williams v. Roberts, 116 F.3d 1126, 1128 (5th Cir. 1997).

1 See Garcia v. Watson, 5:21-CV-00112-BQ (N.D. Tex. May 13, 2021).

The Clerk is directed to close this case and terminate any pending motions. So ordered. Dated December 24 , 2021. C0) JAMES WESLEY HENDRIX Unitéd States District Judge