Torfason v. Bernal
- Jeffrey White
- 4:20-cv-07037
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Torfason v. Bernal, Judge White granted reconsideration and amendment, ordered service, and denied a motion to compel.
James Paul Andrew Torfason; the County of Monterey; Monterey County Sheriff Bernal; and defendants Sullivan and Lowe. The order also directed the Clerk and United States Marshal to arrange service and set obligations for the defendants.
What happened
In Torfason v. Bernal, James Paul Andrew Torfason, a prisoner representing himself, brought a civil-rights case under a federal law allowing suits against state officials. He sought to add the County of Monterey and Sheriff Bernal and alleged that Sullivan and Lowe failed to protect him from an assault by another inmate.
The court granted reconsideration and granted leave to file the Third Amended Complaint. It ordered service on the County and Sheriff Bernal and set procedures for later dispositive motions. The court denied Torfason’s motion to compel because he had not met the requirement to try to resolve the dispute with the other side first.
Judge Jeffrey S. White issued the July 20, 2022 order. The order allowed the amended claims to proceed and did not decide whether Torfason ultimately would prevail on them.
The detailed version
- Torfason v. Bernal · No. 4:20-cv-07037
- Jeffrey White
- July 20, 2022
Background
James Paul Andrew Torfason, a California prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He asked the court to reconsider an earlier order that had denied him permission to file a Third Amended Complaint. His proposed complaint added the County of Monterey and Monterey County Sheriff Bernal as defendants. It also asserted claims against Sullivan and Lowe based on alleged failures to protect him from being assaulted by another inmate.
Rulings on amendment and service
The court found that, when read liberally, the proposed Third Amended Complaint stated legally recognizable claims against the County and Sheriff Bernal, as well as against Sullivan and Lowe. The court therefore granted reconsideration and granted leave to file the Third Amended Complaint.
The court directed the Clerk to issue a summons and the United States Marshal to serve the County of Monterey and Sheriff Bernal without requiring Torfason to pay fees in advance. The defendants were ordered to file answers under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court also established procedures and deadlines for any later motion for summary judgment or other motion seeking to end the case, including an opposition deadline of 28 days after filing and a reply deadline of 14 days after the opposition.
Motion to compel
Torfason also filed a motion to compel, which asks the court to require another party to provide requested information or discovery. He acknowledged that he had not satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)’s requirement to try to resolve the dispute with the defendants before asking the court to intervene. The court rejected his explanation that incarceration prevented this step, stating that he could communicate by mail with the defendants’ lawyer if necessary. The court denied the motion to compel.
Effect of the order
This order addressed permission to amend the complaint, service, case-management procedures, and the discovery motion. It did not decide the ultimate merits of Torfason’s constitutional claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.