McKinley v. Detective Kyle Crevatas

Background

Mark McKinley, who was incarcerated at Elmira Correctional Facility and proceeding without a lawyer, filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims for violations of constitutional rights by persons acting under state law. He named Detective Kyle Crevatas, Detective Logan Payano, Detective Sean Brown, Officer Edgar Garcia, and the City of New York as defendants. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying filing fees. McKinley filed a Second Amended Complaint on November 24, 2020, and it was fully docketed on December 11, 2020.

Service of process

Because McKinley was authorized to proceed without prepaying fees, the court explained that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) generally requires service within 90 days after a complaint is filed. The court extended that period here because McKinley could not serve the summons and complaint until the court reviewed the complaint and ordered a summons issued. The court stated that the service period would run for 90 days after the summons was issued. If service was not completed within that period, McKinley was told to request an extension.

Order

Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the Clerk of Court to complete U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return forms for Crevatas, Brown, Payano, and Garcia; issue a summons; and give the Marshals Service the paperwork needed to serve those four defendants. The Clerk was also directed to mail McKinley the order and an information package, amend the official caption to match the order, and provide the Marshals Service with the defendants’ addresses. The quoted order does not decide the merits of McKinley’s claims or state a separate service instruction for the City of New York. It also requires McKinley to notify the court in writing if his address changes and warns that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.