Lin v. Joedy

214 F. Supp. 3d 207, 95 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1921, 2016 WL 5940373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141002
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedOctober 12, 2016
Docket6:10-CV-6474 EAW
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 214 F. Supp. 3d 207 (Lin v. Joedy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lin v. Joedy, 214 F. Supp. 3d 207, 95 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1921, 2016 WL 5940373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141002 (W.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

ELIZABETH A. WOLFORD, United States District Judge

I. Background

On August 20, 2010, Plaintiff Po K. Lin (“Plaintiff’) filed this action based upon an incident occurring on December 22, 2009, during which it is alleged that deputies of the Monroe County Sheriffs Department used excessive force against Plaintiff in violation of his constitutional rights and engaged in an assault and battery. (Dkt. 1). Plaintiff initially named six defendants: [211]*211the County of Monroe, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, the Monroe County Sheriffs Department, and Monroe County Sheriffs Deputies Joedy, Thompson and Murphy. (Id.). By Decision and Order entered December 8, 2014, summary judgment was granted in favor of all defendants except Monroe County Sheriffs Deputy Luther Joedy. (Dkt. 35). The remaining claims against Deputy Joedy are asserted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and pursuant to New York state law for assault and battery.

. Plaintiff was initially represented in this action by Christina A. Agola — who has since been disbarred.1 (Dkt. 31). After the Court issued its Decision and Order on the summary judgment motion that had been pending at the time of Ms. Agola’s disbarment, Plaintiffs current attorney appeared in this action, on June 25, 2015. (See Dkt. 45). The Court scheduled a trial to commence on April 4, 2016, but at the parties’ joint request, the trial was subsequently adjourned to December 2, 2016. (Dkt. 46, 53, 59). In the meantime, the Court granted Plaintiffs application to conduct the depositions of Deputy Joedy and Deputy Vincent Re, the two Monroe County Sheriffs Deputies who were purportedly involved in the alleged incident. (Dkt. 49). Plaintiffs counsel deposed Deputy Re on November 18, 2015, and February 4, 2016. (Dkt. 65-1 at 2).

On August 22, 2016, over six years after commencement of this litigation, over six months after the completion of Deputy Re’s deposition, almost four years after the expiration of the statute of limitations, and less than four months prior to the rescheduled trial date, Plaintiff filed a motion to amend the complaint to add Deputy Re as a defendant in this action. (Dkt. 61). Plaintiff seeks to assert an excessive use of force claim against Deputy Re pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and he also seeks to allege an assault and battery claim, against Deputy Re under New York state law. (Dkt. 61-2). Plaintiff contends that he incorrectly named “Deputy Michael Thompson” as the supervisory deputy at the scene of his alleged beating, and therefore, he seeks to substitute Deputy Re for “Michael Thompson.” (Dkt. 61-1 at 4). Deputy Re opposes Plaintiffs motion to amend. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs motion is denied.

II. Rule 15 Analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2) allows a party to amend his pleading with the court’s permission if the party cannot do so as a matter of course. A court is required to “freely give leave [to amend] when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). However, a proposed amendment is considered futile and leave may be appropriately denied when the statute of limitations for asserting the amended claim has expired. Grace v. Rosenstock, 228 F.3d 40, 53 (2d Cir. 2000). Here, there is no dispute that the statute of limitations has run on Plaintiffs proposed claims against Deputy Re. (Dkt. 61-3 at 3). A § 1983 action filed in New York is subject to a three-year statute of limitations. Hogan v. Fischer, 738 F.3d 509, 517 (2d Cir. 2013). Claims for assault and battery under New York law are subject to a one-year statute of limitations. N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 215(3). Thus, to avoid the statute of limitations, Plaintiff must establish that the claim against Deputy Re relates back to the time of the original filing; otherwise, any [212]*212amendment to the complaint would be futile.

Rule 15(c) provides as follows with respect to the relation back of an amendment to a complaint:

An amendment to a pleading relates back to the date of the original pleading when:
(A) the law that provides the applicable statute of limitations allows relation back;
(B) the amendment asserts a claim or defense that arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set out — or attempted to be set out — in the original pleading; or
(C) the amendment changes the party or the naming of the party against whom a claim is asserted, if Rule 15(c)(1)(B) is satisfied and if, within the period provided by Rule 4(m) for serving the summons and complaint, the party to be brought in by amendment:
(i) received such notice of the action that it will not be prejudiced in defending on the merits; and
(ii) knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against it, but for a mistake concerning the proper party’s identity.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c).

Rule 15(c)(1)(C) sets forth the “federal standard for relation back.” Hogan, 738 F.3d at 517. Pursuant to that section, a complaint seeking to change the named party will relate back to the time of the original filing when the following conditions are met: (1) the claim must have arisen out of the conduct set out in the original complaint; (2) within the time provided for service under Rule 4(m), the party to be added must have received notice so that he will not be prejudiced in defending the action; and (3) within the same Rule 4(m) time period, the party to be added knew or should have known that “but for a mistake of identity, the original action would have been brought against it....” Scott v. Vill. of Spring Valley, 577 Fed.Appx. 81, 82 (2d Cir. 2014) (citing Hogan, 738 F.3d at 517); see e.g., Reliance Ins. Co. v. PolyVision Corp., 292 Fed. Appx. 106, 106-07 (2d Cir. 2008).

Here, the parties agree that the first element of Rule 15(c)(1)(C) has been met— in other words, any claim against Deputy Re arises out of the conduct set forth in the original complaint. However, they disagree as to whether the second and third prongs of the relation back test have been satisfied. As set forth below, this Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to satisfy the requisite standard for relation back under Rule 15(c)(1)(C). In addition, while not raised by the parties, the Court also finds that Plaintiff has failed to satisfy the requisite standard for relation back under Rule 15(c)(1)(A).

A. Substituting versus Adding a New Party

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
214 F. Supp. 3d 207, 95 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1921, 2016 WL 5940373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141002, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lin-v-joedy-nywd-2016.