Redick v. Sonora Police Department

District Court, E.D. California·Decided May 14, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-00287·Unknown

Opinion

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9

10 STANLEY E. REDICK, III, Case No. 1:21-cv-00287-NONE-SAB

11 Plaintiff, SCREENING ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF LEAVE TO FILE A SECOND 12 v. AMENDED COMPLAINT

13 SONORA POLICE DEPARTMENT, et al., (ECF No. 7)

14 Defendants. THIRTY (30) DAY DEADLINE

15 16 I. 17 INTRODUCTION 18 Stanley E. Redick, III (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this 19 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Currently before the Court for screening is Plaintiff’s first 20 amended complaint, filed March 24, 2021. (ECF No. 7.)1 21 II. 22 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PRO SE PLAINTIFF 23 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, meaning he is not represented by an attorney in this case. 24 Given Plaintiff is pro se, the Court will first provide a summary of the primary reasons Plaintiff’s 25 complaint is insufficient, and the instructions Plaintiff must follow if he decides to file a second 26 amended complaint.

27 1 While the docket reflects a filing date of March 24, 2021, the first amended complaint was not entered on the docket in this case until April 7, 2021, due to Plaintiff incorrectly filing the document in a different case that he has 1 A. The Court will not Accept Multiple Types of Attached Documents and Plaintiff must Clearly State the Facts and Claims against each Named 2 Defendant 3 When the Court reviewed Plaintiff’s original complaint, the Court took the time to 4 examine the various types of summaries and documents that Plaintiff submitted as part of, and 5 attached to the complaint, including: a document entitled “Grievance Letter,” a police narrative 6 report, a document entitled “Rebuttal to Sonora Police Department Narrative,” as well as three 7 separate summaries of claims directed at the three then named Defendants, the Sonora Police 8 Department, the Tuolumne County Jail, and the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office, 9 that were in large part identical, but differed slightly depending on the particular Defendant. 10 Plaintiff’s first amended complaint contains some of the same documents as the 11 previously filed complaint, as well as new attachments and summaries. However, rather than 12 putting forth a clear and simple statement of the facts and legal claims pertaining to each named 13 Defendant, in resubmitting the previous filings, Plaintiff has crossed words out, and added labels 14 such as Defendant # 1 and Defendant #2 to certain lines of the attachments and summaries. The 15 Court has read these documents and summaries, and while the Court must a pro se plaintiff’s 16 pleadings liberally, taken together, Plaintiff’s complaint does not comply with Federal Rules of 17 Civil Procedure of 8. The Rule requires Plaintiff to provide a short and plain statement of the 18 claim, meaning he must provide the Defendants notice of the factual basis for each legal claim 19 Plaintiff wishes to pursue against each Defendant. 20 Plaintiff’s complaint is vague and unclear as to each separate Defendant’s actions. The 21 complaint also improperly makes legal conclusions by alleging a legal claim without connecting 22 specific factual details to the types of alleged legal claims. Therefore, Plaintiff has not provided 23 sufficient factual content for the Court to find any claim is plausible as presented. 24 The Court warns Plaintiff that the Court will not review a second amended 25 complaint that is presented in the same form as the first amended complaint. The Court 26 will not review multiple types of attachments that force the Court to find and obtain facts 27 from the various documents and connect those facts to different claims and Defendants. Instead, the complaint must be retyped or rewritten in its entirety, preferably on the court- 1 approved form, and must be complete without reference to the original complaint, the first 2 amended complaint, or any other pleading, attachment, or document, because an amended 3 complaint supersedes the preceding complaint. 4 Plaintiff must present his claims in a clear manner describing what each Defendant 5 specifically did to Plaintiff that would form a claim against that specific Defendant and clearly 6 state the legal claim he is pursuing against each Defendant. The Court will provide the legal 7 standards below for what claims Plaintiff appears to try to claim. 8 B. Plaintiff must Clearly Identify the Defendants he Wants to Sue 9 It is unclear whether Plaintiff is still trying to sue the government agencies: the Sonora 10 Police Department, the Tuolumne County Jail, and the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s 11 Office, or is only now trying to sue individual persons that work for these government agencies 12 because of the way the names are written on the caption page of the complaint (the first page). If 13 Plaintiff wants to sue only the individual persons, he only needs to list the persons’ names on the 14 first page, and may list the agencies that employ the persons on the following pages where the 15 form contains spaces for “Job or Title.” If Plaintiff wants to also sue the agencies, he must list 16 the agencies as separate Defendants under Section I(B) of the complaint form. 17 Below, the Court will provide the legal standards for claims against individuals and 18 against the government entities. If Plaintiff chooses to file a second amended complaint, he must 19 clearly and separate identify each Defendant, whether an agency or a person. 20 C. Plaintiff’s Discovery Requests are Denied at this Stage 21 Plaintiff attaches a document entitled Freedom of Info Subpoena Requests, and lists six 22 types of subpoenas he would like to issue in this action. (ECF No. 7 at 29.) Such a request for 23 discovery is premature and shall be denied without prejudice. The Court has not ordered the 24 complaint served and no defendant has appeared in this action. Thus, Plaintiff will have to wait 25 for the Court to screen the complaint in this action and have the Defendants served before he 26 may proceed in issuing discovery. 27 To the extend he wishes to pursue a Freedom of Information Act Request, The Court 1 agencies for federal records. The equivalent for the state of California is the California Public 2 Records Act, and he may choose to file such California Public Records Act requests directly with 3 the agencies without involvement of this Court, if he wishes. 4 III. 5 SCREENING REQUIREMENT 6 Notwithstanding any filing fee, the court shall dismiss a case if at any time the Court 7 determines that the complaint “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which 8 relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from 9 such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); see Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) 10 (section 1915(e) applies to all in forma pauperis complaints, not just those filed by prisoners); 11 Calhoun v. Stahl, 254 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (dismissal required of in forma pauperis 12 proceedings which seek monetary relief from immune defendants); Cato v. United States, 70 13 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995) (district court has discretion to dismiss in forma pauperis 14 complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 1998) 15 (affirming sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim). The Court exercises its discretion to 16 screen the plaintiff’s complaint in this action to determine if it “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) 17 fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a 18 defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C.

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