Miller v. Roodna
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-03008
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Miller v. Roodna, Judge McMahon transferred the pro se civil-rights case from New York to Colorado because the alleged events occurred there.
Charles Lee Miller’s case was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of Colorado. The defendants were also affected because the case would proceed, if allowed by the transferee court, in Colorado rather than New York.
What happened
In Miller v. Roodna, Charles Lee Miller, representing himself, alleged that a police officer and nursing staff violated his rights during an illegal search at a Colorado hospital.
The court held that the Southern District of New York was not the proper location for the case because the events occurred in Colorado and the defendants’ addresses were outside New York. It transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the transfer under the federal venue statute, closed the case in the Southern District of New York, and denied fee-free status for any appeal because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Miller v. Roodna · No. 1:20-cv-03008
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 14, 2020
Background
Charles Lee Miller, a Colorado resident proceeding without a lawyer, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that, on March 14, 2020, a police officer illegally searched him at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. The opinion states that Miller sued the police officer and nursing staff employed at that hospital.
Venue analysis
Federal law generally permits a civil action to proceed in a district where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. The court found that Miller’s claims arose in Adams County, Colorado, and that he provided addresses for all defendants outside the Southern District of New York. The court therefore concluded that venue was not proper in New York.
Ruling and disposition
The court determined that venue was proper in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado and transferred the action there under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The Clerk was directed to mail Miller a copy of the order, record service on the docket, and transfer the action. The court stated that the Colorado court would decide whether Miller could proceed without prepaying fees. No summons was to issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the case in that court.
Judge Colleen McMahon also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Miller’s allegations.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.