Johnson v. The City of New York

Opinion

ie nes Tee “Rp teas: oy THE CITY OF NEW YORK HON. SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX LAW DEPARTMENT JOSEPH ZANGRILLI Corporation Counsel 100 CHURCH STREET Senior Counsel NEW YORK, NY 10007 Phone: (212) 356-5052 Fax: (212) 356-3509 jzangrilli@law.nyc.gov

October 24, 2023 By ECF Honorable Jennifer Willis United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of New York 500 Pearl Street New York, New York, 10007 Re:Glenn Johnson v. City of New York., No. 23-CV-3091 (JHR) (JW) Your Honor: I am a Senior Counsel in the Office of the Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York and the attorney representing defendant City and Correction Officer McCutchen in the above-referenced matter.'! Defendants write to respectfully request the Court compel plaintiff's response to defendant’s identification interrogatory within twenty one days, and extend this Office’s time to respond to the Court’s Valentin Order until 30 days after those responses are received. The undersigned has met and conferred with the plaintiff the day of filing this application and the plaintiff has agreed to the application. Because of the plaintiff's incarcerated status this Office could not contact him at an earlier date. Pro se plaintiff alleges that on or about June 1, 2022, while he was in custody of the Department of Correction at the Eric M. Taylor Center (“SEMTC”), two Correction Officers failed to intervene as inmates attacked him. (See ECF Dkt. Nos. | at 4.) Plaintiff alleges the inmate that attacked him used a makeshift weapon to lacerate his eyelid. Id. Plaintiff asserts this action against New York City, Correction Officer McCutchen and a John Doe Correction Officer. Id. at 3. On June 26, 2023, the Court ordered the New York City Law Department to ascertain the identity, badge number, and service address of the John Doe correction officer whom plaintiff purports to bring this action against, pursuant to Valentin v. Dinkins, 121 F.3d 72, 76 (2d Cir. 1997). (See ECF Dkt. No. 6 at 1-2.) On September 25, 2023, this Office requested an enlargement of time to comply with the outstanding Valentin Order, outlined the efforts taken to date to identify the John

' This case has been assigned to Assistant Corporation Counsel Seamus O’Connor, who is presently awaiting his results from the July 2023 New York State Bar Exam and 1s handling this matter under my supervision. Mr. O’Connor may be reached directly at (212) 356-2354 or by email at seoconno@law.nyc.gov.

Doe Officer, and proposed a plan to assist in complying with the Valentin Order. 7 (See ECF Dkt. No. 24.) Since that time, this Office has undertaken extensive efforts to attempt to identify the John Doe to no avail. Defendants have reviewed the officer logbooks and legal schedules on the date of the incident and interviewed Officer McCutchen. Unfortunately, these steps have not revealed the John Doe officer’s identity. Currently, plaintiff is the only individual with knowledge of information such as the time the incident occurred, a description of the officer, a specific location where the incident occurred, and any other information regarding the identities of the officer. Any specific details that plaintiff could share about this officer would provide substantial assistance in ascertaining the identity. Accordingly, the City respectfully requests the Court compel the plaintiff to respond to defendant’s identification interrogatory within twenty one days. Once defendants are in possession of this information will we be able to continue our attempt to identify the last remaining John Doe defendant. Therefore, this Office requests that its time to comply with the Valentin Order be extended until thirty days after responses to the identification interrogatories are received. Thank you for your consideration herein. Respectfully submitted,

/S/ Joseph Zangrili Joseph Zangrilli Senior Counsel

This request is GRANTED. Plaintiff is directed to respon: to Defendants' identification interrogatory by November 1 Cc: By U.S. Mail 2023. Defendants are directed to comply with the Valenti: Glenn Johnson Order within 30 days of receipt of such responses. The Plaintiff Pro Se Clerk of the Court is respectfully requested to mail a copy Clinton Correctional Facility this Order to Plaintiff. SO ORDERED. P.O. Box 2000 Dannemora, NY 12929 | E Wy . iy Jebhifer E. Willis United States Magistrate Judge October 25, 2023

? This application was this Office’s second request for an enlargement of time to comply with this Order. See Docket Entry No. 15.