Torres v. City of New York
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:19-cv-06332
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Torres v. City of New York, Judge Ramos stayed a service order and directed NYCHH to identify the second Bellevue doctor by March 2, 2021.
Wilfredo Torres, NYCHH, and the defendants involved in service, particularly the unidentified Bellevue doctor and Doctors Lasley and Deb.
What happened
Torres v. City of New York concerns Wilfredo Torres’s claims that his constitutional rights were violated during a search of his apartment and a later hospitalization at Bellevue Hospital. Torres represented himself and added several police officers and doctors as defendants.
One doctor’s summons was returned because Bellevue had no record of that doctor, and the second doctor who examined Torres had not yet been identified. The court directed New York City Health and Hospitals to identify that doctor by March 2, 2021.
Judge Edgardo Ramos stayed the court’s January 28, 2021 service order until March 2, 2021, and directed the Clerk to mail Torres a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- Torres v. City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-06332
- Edgardo Ramos
- Feb. 2, 2021
Background
Wilfredo Torres, representing himself, sued the City of New York, New York City Health and Hospitals (NYCHH), Police Lieutenant Neil Veras, Police Officer Patricia de Jesus, and other defendants. He alleged that his constitutional rights were violated during a search of his apartment and his subsequent hospitalization at Bellevue Hospital.
After the court’s order seeking information about unidentified defendants, Torres filed a second amended complaint naming Officers Dioasky Pena, Daniel Pearles, and Mateusz Hader, and Doctors Arkaprava Deb and Steven Lasley. The court issued an order allowing service on those defendants. At a conference about NYCHH’s proposed motion to dismiss, NYCHH challenged Torres’s addition of Dr. Lasley because Torres had said that he had been treated by two doctors but had not identified the second doctor.
Court’s Action
Dr. Lasley’s summons was returned unexecuted because Bellevue Hospital reported that it had no record of him. Dr. Deb’s summons had not yet been returned. The court stated that its January 28, 2021 service order could not be carried out because the second doctor who examined Torres had not yet been identified in Bellevue’s records.
The court directed NYCHH to identify that doctor by March 2, 2021. Judge Edgardo Ramos stayed the January 28, 2021 service order until that date. The Clerk was also directed to mail Torres a copy of the order. The opinion does not decide the merits of Torres’s constitutional claims or NYCHH’s proposed motion to dismiss.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.