Lurch, Jr. v. The City of New York
- Alison Nathan
- 1:19-cv-11253
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Lurch, Jr. v. City of New York, Magistrate Judge Parker identified officers and ordered service through Marshals, extending the service deadline.
Robert Derek Lurch, Jr.; Brian Fornasar; Matthew Whiting; and the City of New York. The order primarily affected the addition and service of the two officers as defendants.
What happened
Robert Derek Lurch, Jr. sued the City of New York and other defendants over a November 2019 incident. The City identified Brian Fornasar and Matthew Whiting as two officers involved in that incident.
The court replaced two unidentified officers in the complaint with Fornasar and Whiting and directed the Clerk of Court to add them as defendants. Because Lurch was allowed to proceed without paying filing fees, he could use the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve them.
Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summons was issued and ordered the Clerk to prepare and send the necessary service paperwork to the Marshals Service. The court also directed the Clerk to send the order to Lurch at his updated address.
The detailed version
- Lurch, Jr. v. The City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-11253
- Alison Nathan
- Feb. 25, 2021
Background
The complaint described a November 2019 incident and identified some officers as John Does because their names were not initially known. The City of New York identified Brian Fornasar and Matthew Whiting as officers involved in the incident.
Lurch had been allowed to proceed without paying filing fees. In that situation, federal law and court rules allow the plaintiff to rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve defendants. The court noted that Lurch could not have served the summons and amended complaint until the City identified the previously unidentified officers.
Ruling
Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker ordered that Brian Fornasar and Matthew Whiting be substituted for two John Doe officers and added as defendants on the docket. The Clerk of Court was directed to prepare the U.S. Marshals Service service forms, issue a summons, and provide the Marshals Service with the paperwork needed to serve the two officers.
The court extended the time for service to 90 days after the summons was issued. It stated that, if service was not completed within that period, Lurch should request an extension of time. The Clerk was also directed to send Lurch a copy of the order at his recently updated address. This order addressed identifying defendants and completing service; it did not decide the underlying claims described in the complaint.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.