John Angel Salcida v. Jonathan P. Cota, et al.

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: January 15, 2026
• Docket: 3:25-cv-03779
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN ANGEL SALCIDA, Case No.: 3:25-cv-3779-CAB-BJW CDCR #F04429, 12 ORDER DENYING MOTION TO Plaintiff, 13 PROCEED IN FORMA v. PAUPERIS[Doc No. 2] 14 JONATHAN P. COTA, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 John Angel Salcida (“Plaintiff”), a state inmate proceeding pro se, has filed a civil 19 rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. [Doc. No. 1 (“Complaint”).] Plaintiff did 20 not pay the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) to commence a civil action when he 21 filed his Complaint; instead, he has filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) 22 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). [Doc. No. 2.] As discussed below, the Court DENIES 23 the IFP Motion. 24 I. MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 25 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 26 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 27 $405. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 28 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1 § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. 2 Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, a prisoner granted leave to proceed 3 IFP remains obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. 4 Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84–85 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 5 2015), and regardless of whether his action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatorre, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 7 Section 1915(a)(2) requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a 8 “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 9 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint[.]” 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified 11 trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average 12 monthly deposits in the account, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the 13 past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. 14 § 1915(b)(1)(A)–(B); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having custody of the 15 prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month’s 16 income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards those payments to 17 the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2); Bruce, 577 U.S. at 18 84–85. 19 In support of his request to proceed IFP, Plaintiff has submitted a prison certificate 20 authorized by a prison accounting official and a copy of his Inmate Statement Report. See 21 Doc. No. 3; 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2; Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1119. 22 These documents show that for the six months immediately preceding filing of the 23 Complaint, Plaintiff carried an average monthly balance of $3,646.65 and average monthly 24 deposits of $2,224.76. [See Doc. No. 3 at 4.] The balance in Plaintiff’s trust account as of 25 December 29, 2025 was $741.29. [Id. at 2, 4.] 26 In this matter, Plaintiff has not shown the indigence required to proceed IFP. 27 Therefore, because Plaintiff has shown that he is able to pay the filing fee in total, Plaintiff’s 28 Motion to Proceed IFP is DENIED. 1 Hi. CONCLUSION 2 The Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed IFP. [Doc. No. 2]. Because 3 || Plaintiff has not qualified to proceed IFP, he must pay the $405 civil filing fee within forty- 4 || five (45) days of the date of this Order or the case will be dismissed without prejudice. 5 It is SO ORDERED. 6 Dated: January 15, 2026 — GB Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo 9 United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28