Corwell v. Westchester County

Background

Ziare Corwell filed the action while incarcerated at the Westchester County Jail and was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee. Defense counsel informed the court that Corwell had been transferred to Downstate Correctional Facility and later released from custody. Counsel also reported that Corwell had not updated his address on the docket and that counsel did not have a workable address for contacting him, which interfered with pretrial discovery.

The court had repeatedly told Corwell that he was responsible for notifying the court in writing of any address change. Those warnings appeared in the April 10, 2019 order, the instructions for people without lawyers, the September 11, 2019 amended order, and the August 31, 2020 civil-case discovery plan and scheduling order.

Order

The court ordered Corwell to update his current address in writing by February 4, 2021. It warned that failure to comply could result in dismissal for failure to pursue the case or comply with court orders under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).

The court did not dismiss the action in this order. Instead, it directed the defendants not to file a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute at that time, pending Corwell’s response or failure to respond. Court staff were directed to mail the order to the address on the docket and to the address listed in the defendants’ December 30, 2020 letter.

Disposition

Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered Corwell to provide his current address by the stated deadline and warned of possible dismissal if he did not comply. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.