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N.D. Cal.Procedural orderFiled Mar. 7, 2022

Johnson v. Doe

Judge
James Donato
Docket
3:22-cv-00264
Court
U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
Pages
1
Civil RightsCivil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Darrell Eugene Johnson v. Doe, Judge Donato dismissed the duplicative and frivolous civil-rights case and vacated two pending motions.

Who this affects

Darrell Eugene Johnson, whose case was dismissed, and Doe, the named defendant.

What happened

In Darrell Eugene Johnson v. Doe, Darrell Eugene Johnson filed a civil-rights case without a lawyer while being held before trial. The court said he already had another case in the same court involving the same defendant and claims.

The court also noted that an earlier complaint involving the same defendants and claims had already been dismissed as duplicative. It dismissed this case as duplicative and frivolous because the complaints contained the exact same allegations.

Judge Donato also vacated the two pending motions identified as Docket Nos. 2 and 5. The court said it would screen the complaint filed in the earlier related case.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Johnson v. Doe · No. 3:22-cv-00264
Judge
James Donato
Date
Mar. 7, 2022

Background

Darrell Eugene Johnson, identified as a pretrial detainee, filed this civil-rights action without a lawyer. The opinion states that court records showed Johnson was already pursuing a case in the same court involving the same defendant and claims. The court also noted that an earlier complaint involving the same defendants and claims had been dismissed as duplicative.

Ruling

The court dismissed this case as duplicative and frivolous, citing the multiple complaints containing the exact same allegations. A dismissal as duplicative means the court treated the case as improperly repeating another pending or previously filed case rather than addressing the underlying claims. The court stated that it would screen the complaint filed in the earlier related case.

The court also vacated the pending motions listed as Docket Nos. 2 and 5. Judge James Donato entered the order on March 7, 2022.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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