Montes v. Miller

Background

Giovanni Montes filed this pro se civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On May 2, 2023, the court dismissed the action and entered judgment under Northern District of California Local Rule 3-11. The stated reason was that court mail sent to Montes had been returned as undeliverable, and the court did not receive written communication from him providing a current address within 60 days.

Montes later filed a motion asking that the case proceed. The court treated it as a motion to reopen the action. Montes also provided a current mailing address.

Ruling

The court granted the motion to reopen. It directed the clerk to vacate the order of dismissal and related judgment and to reopen the case. The court also found that Miller, identified in the order as a Sonoma County Jail sergeant, apparently had not been served. It ordered the clerk to issue a summons and the U.S. Marshal to serve Miller without prepayment of fees, and directed that courtesy copies be mailed to the Sonoma County Counsel.

The court set case-management deadlines. Within 91 days after the order was filed, Miller had to file and serve a summary-judgment motion or another motion that could resolve the case, or tell the court if summary judgment could not resolve it. Montes had 28 days to respond, and Miller had 14 days after that response to file a reply. The court stated that no hearing would be held on the motion.

The order advised Montes that summary judgment, if granted, would end the case and that he would need to provide evidence addressing any properly supported motion. It also required him to serve court filings on Miller or Miller’s counsel, allowed discovery under the federal rules, and warned that failing to keep the court informed of address changes or otherwise prosecute the case could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute. The order did not decide the merits of Montes’s civil-rights claims.