Boone v. Canale
- Jesse Furman
- 1:25-cv-02440
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Henry L. Boone v. Joseph Canale, Judge Furman granted the City’s unopposed motion to stay the civil case pending Boone’s criminal case.
Henry L. Boone’s civil case is paused; the individually named defendants must provide periodic status reports, and existing deadlines and any scheduled conference are postponed.
What happened
Henry L. Boone, representing himself, sued Joseph Canale and other defendants under a federal civil-rights law, alleging excessive force during his March 17, 2023 arrest. The City of New York asked the court to pause the civil case because Boone’s related federal criminal prosecution was still pending.
Boone did not respond to the request by the court’s deadline. The stay pauses existing deadlines and postpones any scheduled conference indefinitely. The defendants must file reports on the criminal case’s status every other month, beginning December 1, 2025.
Judge Jesse M. Furman granted the City of New York’s motion to stay as unopposed. The order did not decide whether Boone’s excessive-force allegations were legally or factually valid.
The detailed version
- Boone v. Canale · No. 1:25-cv-02440
- Jesse Furman
- Oct. 21, 2025
Background
Henry L. Boone, who is representing himself, brought a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint alleges, among other things, that defendants used excessive force during Boone’s arrest on or about March 17, 2023. The defendants named in the action include Joseph Canale and other individually named police personnel.
The City of New York requested a stay, meaning a temporary pause in the civil case. The request stated that a related federal criminal prosecution against Boone was pending and concerned charges arising from the same arrest. The request identified the criminal charge as possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. The City argued that the two proceedings substantially overlapped and that continuing civil discovery could interfere with the criminal case.
Response and ruling
The court ordered Boone to respond to the stay request by October 10, 2025. The order states that he did not file a response. Judge Jesse M. Furman therefore granted the City of New York’s motion for a stay as unopposed.
The order requires the defendants to file a status report on the first day of every other month, beginning December 1, 2025, updating the court about the status of Boone’s criminal case. Existing deadlines are stayed indefinitely, and any scheduled conference is postponed indefinitely. The order does not resolve the merits of Boone’s excessive-force or other civil claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.