Reed v. The City of New York
- Barbara Moses
- 1:20-cv-08352
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Reed v. The City of New York, Judge Moses ordered service on three officers but denied adding two defendants to Reed’s lawsuit.
Calvin Reed; the City of New York; Police Officer Dennis; Police Officer Harold Mejia; Detectives Brittney Saxon and Jeffrey Santana; the unidentified defendants named in the Second Amended Complaint; Barry F. Weiss; and Police Officer Ortiz.
What happened
In Reed v. The City of New York, Calvin Reed, who is representing himself, filed a lawsuit alleging constitutional and state-law violations arising from several arrests and detentions by New York City police officers. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying filing fees and directed him to file an updated complaint identifying the people involved.
The court ordered service of Reed’s Second Amended Complaint on Harold Mejia, Brittney Saxon, and Jeffrey Santana through the U.S. Marshals Service. It extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summonses are issued. The court denied Reed’s request to add his court-appointed defense lawyer, Barry F. Weiss, and Police Officer Ortiz as defendants.
Judge Barbara Moses denied adding Weiss because the allegations against him involved later events and appeared to concern a separate legal-malpractice matter. She denied adding Ortiz because Reed had known Ortiz’s identity for at least 18 months but did not explain his delay in naming him. The order did not decide the underlying constitutional or state-law claims.
The detailed version
- Reed v. The City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-08352
- Barbara Moses
- Nov. 21, 2022
Background
Calvin Reed, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, brought claims against individuals affiliated with the New York City Police Department and the City of New York. He alleged constitutional and state-law violations arising from arrests and detentions on September 9, 2019, July 17, 2020, and August 3, 2020.
The court had allowed Reed to proceed without prepaying filing fees. In an earlier service order, it limited the case to claims against the City, Police Officer Dennis, several unidentified police officers, and unidentified detectives arising from the specified arrests and detentions. The court also directed the City’s Corporation Counsel to help identify the unidentified defendants.
The Corporation Counsel identified three of the unidentified defendants as Police Officer Harold Mejia, Detective Brittney Saxon, and Detective Jeffrey Santana, but could not identify all of the remaining unidentified officers. Reed later filed a Second Amended Complaint naming the City, Officers Dennis and Mejia, Detectives Saxon and Santana, and John Does #1–#6. He also described additional unidentified officers and asked to add Barry F. Weiss, his court-appointed defense lawyer in one of his criminal cases, and Police Officer Ortiz as defendants.
Service of the Second Amended Complaint
Because Reed was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the court explained that the court and the U.S. Marshals Service would handle service of the summons and complaint. The court extended the time for service until 90 days after the summons was issued.
The court instructed the Clerk of Court to complete service forms for Mejia, Saxon, and Santana; issue summonses; and provide the Marshals Service with the order and other documents needed to serve those defendants. The court also stated that Reed should request an extension if service was not completed within that period.
Request to Add Weiss and Ortiz
The court treated Reed’s request to add Weiss and Ortiz as a request to further amend the case and denied it. Regarding Weiss, the court stated that any claims appeared to arise from events after the arrests at issue and appeared to concern legal malpractice. The court said those claims, if brought, must be pursued in a separate proceeding.
Regarding Ortiz, the court noted that Reed had known Ortiz’s identity for at least 18 months, because an earlier complaint included a Domestic Incident Report signed by Ortiz. Reed did not attempt to add Ortiz until October 25, 2022, and did not explain the delay. The court concluded that the circumstances did not require allowing another amended pleading to add the allegations against Ortiz.
Disposition
Judge Barbara Moses ordered the Clerk of Court to prepare the documents needed for service on Mejia, Saxon, and Santana through the U.S. Marshals Service. The court denied the request to add Weiss and Ortiz. The order did not decide whether Reed’s underlying constitutional or state-law claims were valid.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.