Bush v. The People of the State of New York
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:24-cv-02359
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Bush v. Stone, Judge Seibel dismissed claims against Investigator Natilizio but reinstated Rodriguez and kept claims against Stone and Lin moving.
Jahreek Bush’s claims against Investigator Curt Natilizio were dismissed. Investigator Joe Rodriguez was reinstated, and the claims against Matthew Stone, Michael Lin, and Rodriguez were allowed to proceed to the response stage.
What happened
In Jahreek Bush v. New York State Trooper Matthew Stone, et al., the court considered Bush’s further allegations against investigators Rodriguez and Natilizio in his federal constitutional-rights lawsuit. Bush was representing himself and had previously been allowed to proceed without paying court fees in advance.
The court dismissed the claims against Investigator Natilizio because Bush failed to state a claim for the reasons given in an earlier order. The court treated Bush’s amended complaint and his March 24, 2025 letter together as the complaint against Investigator Rodriguez, found it sufficient to require a response, and reinstated Rodriguez as a defendant. Stone, Lin, and Rodriguez were ordered to respond by April 25, 2025.
Judge Cathy Seibel directed the defendants to answer or move to dismiss. If they move to dismiss, Bush may oppose the motion and the defendants may reply; if they answer, the court will schedule a conference to set a discovery schedule.
The detailed version
- Bush v. The People of the State of New York · No. 7:24-cv-02359
- Cathy Seibel
- Mar. 26, 2025
Background
Jahreek Bush, who was incarcerated at the Westchester County Jail, filed this action alleging violations of the federal Constitution. The court previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying filing fees. On September 18, 2024, the court dismissed all claims except those it construed as claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against New York State Troopers Matthew Stone and Michael Lin and State Police Investigator Joe Rodriguez. The court ordered summonses issued, and the U.S. Marshals Service served all three defendants.
After the defendants indicated that they anticipated filing a motion to dismiss, the court allowed Bush to amend his complaint. Bush filed an amended complaint naming previously dismissed individuals and entities, as well as Stone, Lin, Rodriguez, Theodore S. Green, and State Police Investigator Curt Natilizio. On February 26, 2025, the court dismissed the claims against everyone except Stone and Lin. Bush then asked the court to reconsider the dismissals, including the dismissal of Rodriguez and Natilizio. The court declined to reconsider the other dismissals but gave Bush one final opportunity to explain what Rodriguez allegedly did to violate his rights.
Rulings
The court held that Bush failed to state a claim against Investigator Natilizio for the reasons explained in the February 26 order. The court therefore dismissed the claims against Natilizio.
For Investigator Rodriguez, the court treated the amended complaint together with Bush’s March 24, 2025 letter as the complaint against Rodriguez. The court found those materials sufficient to require Rodriguez to respond. The Clerk was directed to reinstate Rodriguez as a defendant.
The court ordered Stone, Lin, and Rodriguez to respond to the amended complaint as supplemented by Bush’s March 24 letter by April 25, 2025. Bush’s opposition would be due May 27, 2025, and any reply by the defendants would be due June 10, 2025, if the defendants filed a motion to dismiss. If they answered instead, the court would schedule a conference to enter a discovery order.
Disposition
The claims against Investigator Natilizio were dismissed. Rodriguez was reinstated as a defendant, and the claims against Stone, Lin, and Rodriguez were allowed to proceed to the response stage.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.