Taylor Gammons v. Cody

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 2, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-00941
StatusUnknown

This text of Taylor Gammons v. Cody (Taylor Gammons v. Cody) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor Gammons v. Cody, (N.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SHAWN TAYLOR GAMMONS, Plaintiff, 1:25-CV-941 V. (AJB/DJS) SAMANTHA ANNA-KAY CODY, et al., Defendants.

APPEARANCES: SHAWN TAYLOR GAMMONS Plaintiff, Pro Se Albany, New York 12206 DANIEL J. STEWART United States Magistrate Judge REPORT-RECOMMENDATION and ORDER The Clerk has forwarded for review a civil Complaint filed by Plaintiff. The Complaint was filed July 17, 2025. Dkt. No. 1, Compl. The filing fee in this action has not been paid, but Plaintiff has filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. Dkt. No. 2.

That Motion has been granted. The matter has been referred to the undersigned for an initial review pursuant to L.R. 72.3.

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I, FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS IN THE COMPLAINT Plaintiff Shawn Taylor Gammons and Defendant Samantha Anna-Kay Cody were married and have two children together, S.N. and S.M. See generally, Compl. Plaintiff and Defendant are now separated, and Samantha Cody now resides with Defendant Derek Cody, in Freehold, New York. Compl. at J] 7 & 8. The children live with their mother in Freehold, while Plaintiff lives in Albany, New York. Compl. at {5 & 6. In March 2025, domestic strife between Samantha Cody and Derek Cody precipitated a custody proceeding in Greene County Family Court. Compl. at 9 18 & 19. This matter was assigned to Defendant Family Court Judge Charles Tailleur and, it appears, is still ongoing. Judge Tailleur appointed Defendant Andrea Gamalski to represent Plaintiff, Defendant Sondra Smith to represent Defendant Samantha Cody, and Defendants Max Zacker and James Gross to represent S.N. and S.M. Gammons respectively. Compl. at □□ 12-15. Plaintiff alleges these court appointed attorneys capitalized on a bias against him, failed to make proper motions, provided ineffective counsel for his children, and refused to submit favorable evidence. Compl. at 9 22 & 31.

Judge Tailleur issued, and at times extended, a temporary order of protection against Plaintiff, ordered him to pay child support, and ordered to Plaintiff to serve 30 days in Greene County Jail on account of his failure to do so. Plaintiff alleges that he was not given sufficient notice of the hearing for a temporary order of protection. He further alleges that the child support determinations of both Judge Tailleur and Defendant Sarah _2-

Richards, a child support magistrate, are without legal justification or jurisdiction, and that conclusions of his violation and the subsequent jail time are based on erroneous information provided to Greene County Family Court by Samantha and Derek Cody. Specifically, Plaintiff contests the sum of $27,000 owed in child support as discharged by Judge Tailleur in an earlier proceeding. Plaintiff alleges, as part of a broader conspiracy, that his testimony was systematically excluded, while representations by Defendants, including court appointed attorneys, were admitted despite what he contends are either biases or outright lies. Plaintiff also takes issue with the denial of certain proposed conditions of custody issued by Judge Tailleur. See generally Compl. Plaintiff also lists his children as plaintiffs in this action. He claims his children were prevented from participating in the Family Court proceedings, exposed to domestic violence by Samantha and Derek Cody, and that S.N.G. was body-slammed by a New York State Trooper and ordered to enroll in a Pre-Person’s In Need of Supervision program without due process. /d. Plaintiff also claims he has been denied custodial, visitation, and parental rights «| with respect to S.N. and S.M. He further claims that Samantha Cody attempted to prevent court-appointed attorneys from interviewing the children in relation to the custody proceeding. Jd. Plaintiff alleges violations of his Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by the Defendants. Plaintiff also claims common law -3-

conversion as against Defendants Samantha and Derek Cody. Finally, he appears to allege a separate due process violation against Columbia and Greene Counties. In his prayer for relief, Plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests the arrest and deportation of Samantha Cody, sole legal and residential custody of S.N. and S.M., discharge of his child support obligations, impeachment of all public officers named as Defendants in the case, a public apology, and derivative use immunity. Compl. at pp. 15-16 II. GOVERNING LEGAL STANDARD 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) directs that, when a plaintiff seeks to proceed in forma pauperis, “(2) ... the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that —...(B) the action . . . (i) is frivolous or malicious; (11) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (ili) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).! In reviewing a pro se complaint, the court has a duty to show liberality toward pro se litigants, see Nance v. Kelly, 912 F.2d 605, 606 (2d Cir. 1990) (per curiam), and should exercise “extreme caution . . . in ordering sua sponte dismissal of a pro se complaint «| before the adverse party has been served and both parties (but particularly the plaintiff) have had an opportunity to respond.” Anderson v. Coughlin, 700 F.2d 37, 41 (2d Cir. 1983). Therefore, a court should not dismiss a complaint if the plaintiff has stated

' To determine whether an action is frivolous, a court must look to see whether the complaint “lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Neitzke v. Williams, 490 319, 325 (1989).

“enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). Although a court should construe the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, “the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.” Jd. “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). “[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged - but it has not show[n] - that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Jd. at 679 (quoting FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2)). Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). «#|Thus, a pleading that only “tenders naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement” will not suffice. /d. (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

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I. DISCUSSION A.

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Taylor Gammons v. Cody, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-gammons-v-cody-nynd-2025.