Nyambi v. Humboldt County Superior Court

Background

Tita Nyambi filed this civil-rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 while proceeding without an attorney. The court had previously dismissed the complaint but allowed Nyambi to amend it. The court also allowed Nyambi to proceed without paying filing fees in advance.

The court explained that documents mailed to the address and inmate number Nyambi had provided were returned as undeliverable. The Clerk later mailed the documents to another address, but those documents also were returned. Because Nyambi had not filed an amended complaint, the court issued an order requiring Nyambi either to provide a current mailing address and any necessary identification number or to explain why the case should not be dismissed without prejudice under Civil Local Rule 3-11.

Nyambi later sent a letter describing arrests and placement in and out of jail. The letter identified the Humboldt County Jail as a return address and provided another address for use when Nyambi was out of custody. Mail sent to the jail was not returned, suggesting that the address problem had been corrected at least temporarily. But Nyambi still had not filed an amended complaint.

Why the Letter Was Insufficient

The court said it was unclear whether Nyambi intended the December 29, 2025 letter to serve as an amended complaint. If that was the intention, the court found that the letter did not satisfy the prior order. The prior order required an amended complaint to use the court’s complaint form, include the caption and civil case number, and state the words “COURT-ORDERED FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT” on the first page. The letter did none of those things.

Order

Judge Jacquelyn Scott Corley set a new deadline of April 15, 2026, for Nyambi to file an amended complaint. The amended complaint must cure the problems described in the earlier dismissal order, use the court’s complaint form, include the required caption and case number, and contain the required title on its first page.

The court stated that an amended complaint completely replaces the original complaint. Nyambi therefore may not incorporate the original complaint by reference and must include every claim Nyambi wishes to pursue in the amended complaint. The court warned that failure to file an amended complaint by the deadline, or filing an insufficient amendment, may result in dismissal of all claims. This order set a filing deadline; it did not decide the merits of the civil-rights claims.