Turner v. Cimorelli

Background

Allahjustice Turner filed this case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that permits certain civil-rights claims against state actors. He alleged that certain defendants used excessive force against him. The opinion states that Turner was incarcerated at Craven Correctional Institution when he began the action.

The court granted Turner permission to proceed without paying the filing fee and warned him that he had to promptly notify the court of any address change. The case was later reassigned to Judge Halpern. After Turner filed an amended complaint, the court directed him to clarify whether it supplemented his original complaint. When he did not respond, the court treated the amended complaint as the operative complaint, screened it, and issued an order allowing the United States Marshals Service to serve the named defendants.

Failure to Maintain Contact

The court’s August 31, 2020 order was mailed to the address Turner had provided, but the mailing was returned as undeliverable. A later information package was also returned because Turner was no longer at that institution. The opinion states that all documents mailed to Turner by the court and opposing counsel since September 2020 had been returned.

Defendants Khouri and Washington appeared through counsel. They later asked for permission to file a motion to dismiss and notified the court that their letter had also been returned as undeliverable because Turner had been released from the institution. Turner did not respond to that request, and the opinion states that he had not updated his address despite multiple court orders.

Order to Show Cause

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows a district judge to dismiss a case when a plaintiff fails to prosecute it, meaning fails to move the case forward. The court concluded that Turner’s failure to follow the court’s orders, report his address change, and prosecute the case had interfered with the orderly and timely handling of the court’s cases.

Judge Halpern ordered Turner to show cause in writing by April 5, 2021, why the action should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b). The order states that failure to comply will result in dismissal. The court did not dismiss the action in this order. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Turner at the address listed on the docket.