Trotman v. Warden of DOC NYC

Background

David M. Trotman filed a prisoner complaint in the Eastern District of New York. That court found that he had accrued at least three prior dismissals qualifying as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), had not shown an imminent danger of serious physical injury, and therefore could not proceed without paying the filing fee while incarcerated. The court gave him 30 days to pay the fee. Trotman instead filed motions to amend his complaint and to reconsider the decision denying him fee-free status. The action was later transferred to the Southern District of New York.

Amendment and filing-fee issue

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, a plaintiff may amend a complaint once without a court order within the applicable period. Because summonses had not issued and the defendants had not been served, the court held that Trotman could file an amended complaint without additional permission. The court also explained that the exception to the three-strikes filing-fee rule depends partly on whether the claims are connected to the danger the plaintiff identifies.

The court therefore deferred deciding Trotman’s request to reconsider the earlier filing-fee ruling until it could review the amended complaint. The court directed Trotman to file it within 30 days. It instructed him to identify what each defendant allegedly did or failed to do, the relevant events and approximate timing and location, his injuries, and the relief he seeks. The court stated that the amended complaint would completely replace the original complaint.

Joining claims

The court instructed Trotman to include only claims that may properly be brought in one lawsuit. It explained that he generally may include all claims against one defendant or claims against different defendants arising from the same incident. Unrelated claims against different defendants generally belong in separate lawsuits.

Disposition

Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted Trotman’s motions for leave to amend, identified as ECF Nos. 8 and 9, and directed him to file a legible handwritten or typed amended complaint within 30 days. The court also granted him an opportunity to file, within 30 days, a written declaration showing a connection between the amended-complaint claims and an imminent danger of serious physical injury. The court deferred the filing-fee reconsideration issue rather than deciding it in this order. If Trotman does not file an amended complaint, the court stated that it will consider whether his motions to alter or amend the judgment provide a basis to reconsider the earlier filing-fee decision. Separately, the court denied fee-free status for an appeal from this order after certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.