Romero v. Bussanich
- Ho
- 1:22-cv-10909
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Zelaya-Romero v. Bussanich et al., Judge Ho directed that Bruce Bialor replace the John Doe defendant after finding service objections waived.
Ludwig Criss Zelaya-Romero and Bruce Bialor; the order also directed the Clerk of Court and affected the docket’s identification of the John Doe defendant.
What happened
In Ludwig Criss Zelaya-Romero v. Bussanich et al., the court addressed the identity of a defendant previously listed as “John Doe (Clinical Director MDC).” An earlier order had directed the United States Attorney’s Office to identify that person, but the court found no indication that the information had been provided.
The defendants’ filings identified Bruce Bialor as a defendant and referred to a claim against him. The court therefore understood Bialor to be the John Doe defendant. Although the docket showed that Bialor had not been properly served, he had responded to the lawsuit without raising improper service as a defense.
Judge Dale E. Ho concluded that Bialor had waived the right to raise that defense and directed the Clerk of Court to add Bruce Bialor to the docket in place of “John Doe (Clinical Director MDC).” The Clerk was also directed to mail Zelaya-Romero a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- Romero v. Bussanich · No. 1:22-cv-10909
- Ho
- Sept. 16, 2025
Background
The docket listed “John Doe (Clinical Director MDC)” as a defendant. In a December 13, 2023 order, the court determined that Zelaya-Romero’s complaint provided enough information for the Metropolitan Detention Center to identify the clinical director. Because Zelaya-Romero was proceeding without a lawyer, the court directed the United States Attorney’s Office to determine the person’s identity and service address and provide that information to Zelaya-Romero and the court within 60 days.
As of September 14, 2025, the court found no indication that the United States Attorney’s Office had provided that information. The defendants’ briefs, however, listed Bruce Bialor as a defendant and referred to “Defendant Bruce Bialor” in discussing Zelaya-Romero’s claim against him. The court therefore understood Bialor to be the defendant previously identified as John Doe.
Service and Waiver
The court reviewed the docket and found that proper service had never been completed on Bialor. Service of process is the formal delivery of a lawsuit and related papers to a defendant. The court concluded that Bialor had waived any defense based on improper service because he voluntarily responded to the lawsuit without raising that defense as required by the applicable procedural rule.
Order
The court directed the Clerk of Court to add Bruce Bialor to the docket in place of “John Doe (Clinical Director MDC).” The Clerk was also directed to mail Zelaya-Romero a copy of the order. This order addressed the defendant’s identity and service defense; it did not decide the merits of Zelaya-Romero’s underlying claim.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.