Renteria v. Cuevas
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Janis L. Sammartino (author)
Analysis
The court considered the plaintiff's motion to restore a stay of proceedings and his notice of change of address following the return of the initial screening order and summons as undeliverable. The court denied the motion to stay as moot and otherwise unsupported, and directed the Clerk to resend the screening order and reissue the summons to the plaintiff's new address.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Motion for an Order Restoring Stay denied as moot“Accordingly, to the extent the Motion seeks to lift any stay of these proceedings, the Court DENIES AS MOOT the request, because there is no stay to lift.” | agree with court The order recites that prior stay requests were denied and the court instead continued the spreading of the mandate. Since the mandate has now been spread and the complaint screened, the condition for the stay has passed. Denying the motion as moot is a logical procedural consequence of the case's posture. |
Motion to institute a stay denied“To the extent the Motion seeks to institute a stay, Plaintiff has presented no reasons justifying a stay of these proceedings in light of the posture of this case, and the Court DENIES the request.” | agree with court The court found the plaintiff failed to provide justification for a stay given that the postconviction relief hearing had passed and the mandate was spread. This is a standard discretionary ruling based on the lack of merit in the request. |
Clerk directed to resend June 14, 2022 Order and reissue summons“The Court DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to resend the June 14, 2022 Order (ECF No. 21) to Plaintiff at his new address of record. The Court further DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to reissue the summons.” | agree with court The order and summons were returned as undeliverable. Directing the clerk to resend them to the updated address is a necessary administrative step to ensure the plaintiff receives notice and the case can proceed. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the procedural posture: the previous stay was tied to a pending postconviction proceeding which has concluded. It correctly applies the rule that the service clock starts after screening. The reliance on Butler and other circuit cases for the tolling principle is appropriate for the Ninth Circuit. The administrative orders to resend documents are standard and necessary.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RONALD DAVE RENTERIA, Case No.: 21-CV-1507 JLS (MSB)
12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 13 v. MOTION TO STAY AND DIRECTING THE CLERK OF 14 CUEVAS, 3rd Watch Correctional COURT TO RESEND JUNE 14, 2022 Officer; BYRNES, 3rd Watch 15 ORDER AND REISSUE SUMMONS Correctional Officer; KAKO, 3rd Watch 16 Correctional Officer; MEEKS, 2nd Watch (ECF Nos. 21, 25–26) Correctional Officer; M. GARCIA, 2nd 17 Watch Correctional Officer; RICO, 18 Correctional Sergeant; MS. T. MARTINEZ, Correctional Lieutenant; 19 and MARCUS POLLARD, Warden, 20 Defendants. 21 22 Presently before the Court are Plaintiff Ronald Dave Renteria’s (“Plaintiff”) Notice 23 of Change of Address (“Notice,” ECF No. 25) and Motion for an Order Restoring Stay 24 (“Mot.,” ECF No. 26). The Court notes that its June 14, 2022 Order screening Plaintiff’s 25 Complaint and directing the Clerk of the Court to issue a summons, and the summons itself, 26 were returned as undeliverable on June 28, 2022. See ECF Nos. 23–24. The Court also 27 notes that Plaintiff’s prior requests for a stay of these proceedings, see ECF Nos. 12, 15, 28 were denied, see ECF Nos. 14, 17. The Court instead continued the spreading of the 1 mandate in this matter until after the completion of Plaintiff’s postconviction relief 2 proceeding. See ECF No. 14. The hearing date for the postconviction relief proceeding 3 has passed and the mandate has now been spread, see ECF Nos. 19–20, with Plaintiff’s 4 Complaint having been screened, see ECF No. 21. Accordingly, to the extent the Motion 5 seeks to lift any stay of these proceedings, the Court DENIES AS MOOT the request, 6 because there is no stay to lift. To the extent the Motion seeks to institute a stay, Plaintiff 7 has presented no reasons justifying a stay of these proceedings in light of the posture of 8 this case, and the Court DENIES the request. 9 Further, given Plaintiff’s Notice and his failure to receive the June 14, 2022 Order 10 and summons, the Court DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to resend the June 14, 2022 11 Order (ECF No. 21) to Plaintiff at his new address of record. The Court further DIRECTS 12 the Clerk of Court to reissue the summons. 13 As the Court noted in the June 14, 2022 Order, 14 Because Plaintiff is not proceeding IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, he remains “responsible for having the summons and 15 complaint served within the time allowed by Rule 4(m)” now that 16 his pleading has survived the sua sponte screening required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(1). The Court has 17 tolled Rule 4(m)’s time limit for service while conducting its 18 screening. See Butler v. Nat’l Cmty. Renaissance of Cal., 766 F.3d 1191, 1204 n.8 (9th Cir. 2014) (noting that “[o]ther federal 19 circuit courts of appeals have held that the [90]–day service 20 period is tolled until the court screens a plaintiff’s in forma pauperis complaint and authorizes service of process”) (citing 21 Robinson v. Clipse, 602 F.3d 605, 608 (4th Cir. 2010); Urrutia 22 v. Harrisburg Cty. Police Dep’t, 91 F.3d 451, 459 (3d Cir. 1996)). 23 24 ECF No. 21 at 10 n.5. Accordingly, Plaintiff must (1) personally serve Defendants within 25 90 days of the date of this Order and file proof of that service pursuant to Federal Rule of 26 Civil Procedure 4(l) or (2) procure a waiver of personal service as to each of the named 27 Defendants pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d) within 90 days of the date of 28 this Order, or Plaintiff will face dismissal without prejudice based on his failure to 1 || prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m). 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 || Dated: June 30, 2022 nie tt f te 4 on. Janis L. Sammartino 5 United States District Judge 6 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28