DiDonna v. Smith
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-06107
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In DiDonna v. Smith, Judge Karas treated a filing as a Third Amended Complaint and ordered attorneys to provide service addresses for several defendants.
Louis Andrew DiDonna; the defendants listed in the Third Amended Complaint who had not been served; the Sullivan County Attorney; the New York Attorney General; and the Clerk of Court.
What happened
In DiDonna v. Smith, the court treated Louis Andrew DiDonna’s filing at Docket Number 53 as his Third Amended Complaint. The filing listed multiple individual and organizational defendants, including Sullivan County and PrimeCare Medical, Inc.
Some defendants had already been served and appeared, while Sullivan County Jail had been terminated from the case. Earlier attempts to serve several other defendants had not succeeded, and the court found that the filing provided enough information for responsible attorneys to help locate them.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas ordered the Sullivan County Attorney and the New York Attorney General to provide service addresses for the identified defendants within 60 days. The order addressed amendment and service issues; it did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- DiDonna v. Smith · No. 7:22-cv-06107
- Kenneth Karas
- May 22, 2025
Background
On January 23, 2025, the Court directed Plaintiff Louis Andrew DiDonna to file a Third Amended Complaint containing all factual allegations, defendants, and claims he wished to assert. The Court construed his filing at Docket Number 53 as that complaint.
The Third Amended Complaint listed Harold Smith; Lieutenant Bini; Deputy Fancher; Deputy Lawrence; Head Nurse Wendy Moore; Nurse Santini; Sullivan County, New York; Sullivan County Jail; Prime Care Medical, Inc.; Nurse Kim; Nurse Lynn Elkins; Nurse Christine Bermington; Nurse Anderson; Sgt. Robert W. Mass; Connor Stewart; Kyle Farrand; Deputy Skow; and Constable Ketchem as defendants. The order states that Harold Smith, Deputy Fancher, and Sullivan County had been served and had appeared. Sullivan County Jail had already been terminated from the action.
Service Assistance
DiDonna provided service addresses for defendants, but many repeated addresses from the original complaint, where the United States Marshals Service had unsuccessfully attempted service. Because DiDonna was proceeding without a lawyer, the Court applied the rule that such a litigant is entitled to court assistance in determining an unidentified defendant’s identity and proper service address.
The Court found that the Third Amended Complaint provided sufficient information for the Sullivan County Attorney to supply service addresses for Lieutenant Bini, Deputy Lawrence, Head Nurse Wendy Moore, Nurse Santini, PrimeCare Medical, Inc., Nurse Kim, Nurse Lynn Elkins, Nurse Christine Bermington, Nurse Anderson, Deputy Skow, and Constable Ketchem. It found sufficient information for the New York Attorney General to supply addresses for Sgt. Robert W. Mass, Connor Stewart, and Kyle Farrand. Although Harold Smith had accepted service on behalf of PrimeCare Medical, Inc., and PrimeCare had not appeared, the Court directed the Sullivan County Attorney to provide PrimeCare’s address as a precaution.
Ruling
Judge Kenneth M. Karas ordered the Sullivan County Attorney and the New York Attorney General to provide the required service-address information to the Court and DiDonna within 60 days of the order. The Court also directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order and the Third Amended Complaint to both attorneys. The order did not resolve the merits of DiDonna’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.