El Bey v. Crocilla
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-00524
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In El Bey v. Crocilla, Judge Gorenstein denied venue transfer and extended the deadline for a new complaint.
The plaintiff, Queen Prinyah Godiah Nmiaa Paynes El Bey, and the defendants, including Leyland Crocilla. The order sets deadlines and procedural requirements for the case.
What happened
In El Bey v. Crocilla, the plaintiff asked to move the case from the Southern District of New York to the Southern District of Texas. The court denied that request because she relied only on having moved and on her belief that she would not receive “true justice” in New York.
The court also extended the deadline for the plaintiff to file a Fourth Amended Complaint to June 16, 2022. If she did not file it as required, the defendants were directed to respond to the Third Amended Complaint by June 30, 2022.
Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein explained that the plaintiff had agreed to electronic service, so court orders were not being mailed to her, and asked defense counsel to email her a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- El Bey v. Crocilla · No. 1:20-cv-00524
- Laura Swain
- June 2, 2022
Background
The plaintiff requested a transfer of venue to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Her stated reasons were that she had moved to another state and did not believe she would obtain “true justice” in the Southern District of New York. The court also addressed her letter stating that she had not received certain court orders.
The opinion refers to an earlier May 23, 2022 order that gave the plaintiff another opportunity to file a Fourth Amended Complaint after she missed an earlier deadline. That earlier order extended the filing deadline to June 6, 2022 and stayed the defendants’ deadline to respond to the Third Amended Complaint. The June 2 order extended the deadline again, to June 16, 2022.
Rulings and deadlines
The court denied the plaintiff’s motion to transfer venue. It concluded that she had not shown that any of the factors for transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) applied.
The court extended the deadline to file a Fourth Amended Complaint to June 16, 2022. If the plaintiff did not file a Fourth Amended Complaint that complied with the May 23 order, the defendants were directed to respond to the Third Amended Complaint by June 30, 2022. Any defense motion had to follow Judge Swain’s Individual Practices.
The court explained that the plaintiff had consented to electronic service, so court orders were not mailed to her. It attached the May 23 order for her benefit and asked defense counsel to email her a copy of the June 2 order. The court did not decide the underlying claims in this order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.