Ettiene-Modeste v. Hartford Police Department
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-01162
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ettiene-Modeste v. Hartford Police Department, Judge McMahon transferred the civil-rights case to Connecticut because venue was improper in New York.
The action brought by Dexter M. Ettiene-Modeste was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of Connecticut; the underlying claims were not decided.
What happened
Ettiene-Modeste v. Hartford Police Department is a civil-rights lawsuit brought without a lawyer by Dexter M. Ettiene-Modeste, who was detained in Florida. He alleged that the defendants violated his rights in Connecticut.
Judge McMahon determined that New York was not the proper location for the case because the plaintiff did not allege that a defendant lived there or that a substantial part of the events occurred there. The claims arose in Connecticut, which is in the federal judicial district of Connecticut.
Judge Colleen McMahon transferred the action to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She closed the case in New York, left the decision about proceeding without paying filing fees to the receiving court, and denied payment-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Ettiene-Modeste v. Hartford Police Department · No. 1:21-cv-01162
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 10, 2021
Background
Dexter M. Ettiene-Modeste, proceeding without a lawyer, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Hartford Police Department and other defendants. The opinion states that he was detained at the Metro West Detention Center in Doral, Florida, and alleged that the defendants violated his rights in Connecticut.
Venue Analysis
Venue is the federal district where a lawsuit may properly be filed. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), venue generally is proper where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or, if no such district exists, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction for the action.
The court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York because Ettiene-Modeste did not allege that any defendant resided there or that a substantial part of the events or omissions occurred there. The court determined that the claims arose in Connecticut, which is in the District of Connecticut, making venue proper there under § 1391(b)(2).
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The Clerk was directed to send Ettiene-Modeste a copy of the order and transfer the case. The court stated that the receiving court would decide whether he could proceed without prepaying filing fees, and no summons would issue from the Southern District of New York. The order closed the case in that court.
The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied payment-free status for purposes of an appeal. The opinion did not decide the underlying allegations or whether the defendants violated Ettiene-Modeste’s rights.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.