Azor-El v. Yazzo

Background

Jean Azor-El brought a self-represented federal action seeking damages against Christopher Yazzo, Ian Woodard, Brian Lyons, and Walter Mikowski. The opinion describes the defendants as New York City Police Department detectives assigned to Queens County, New York. Azor-El also attempted to remove—that is, move from state to federal court—a criminal action that may have been pending against him in the New York Supreme Court, Queens County.

Venue analysis

Venue means the federal district where a case may properly be heard. For the civil claims, the court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), which permits a case generally where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the relevant events occurred, or, if neither applies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. The court concluded that Azor-El did not allege that any defendant resided in the Southern District of New York or that a substantial part of the relevant events occurred there.

For the attempted removal of the state criminal action, the court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1443, which permits removal only to the federal district covering the place where the state case is pending. Queens County is in the Eastern District of New York, not the Southern District of New York. The court therefore concluded that the Eastern District was the proper venue for the action and transferred it under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).

Disposition

The court directed the Clerk to mail the order to Azor-El, note service on the docket, and transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Azor-El could proceed without prepaying fees. It also ordered that no summons issue from the Southern District and stated that the order closed the action there. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied payment-free status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.