Alexander v. Private Protective Services, Inc.
- Stewart Aaron
- 1:19-cv-10004
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Alexander v. Private Protective Services, Judge Aaron ordered financial records and steps to obtain texts, warning that noncompliance could lead to dismissal.
Jeriel Alexander was required to provide financial records, identify his aunt for possible testimony, and comply with the order concerning text messages and previously awarded attorney’s fees. Private Protective Services, Inc. was the defendant and the recipient of the previously awarded fees.
What happened
In Alexander v. Private Protective Services, Jeriel Alexander was ordered to provide text messages involving Private Protective Services, Inc. and either pay previously awarded attorney’s fees or document why he could not pay. He submitted an unsupported statement that he was a full-time college student unable to pay and did not provide the messages by the deadline.
The court ordered Alexander to send tax returns and bank-account statements for private review by March 13, 2023, so it could assess whether he could pay some or all of the fees. It also ordered him to provide contact information for his aunt, who Alexander said controlled the password to his iCloud account, so she could be required to testify about access to the messages.
The order warned that, if Alexander did not comply with all parts of the order, Judge Aaron would recommend that Judge Oetken dismiss the case with prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to obey a pretrial order. The order itself did not dismiss the case.
The detailed version
- Alexander v. Private Protective Services, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-10004
- Stewart Aaron
- Mar. 6, 2023
Background
A February 6, 2023 order directed pro se Plaintiff Jeriel Alexander to do two things by February 13, 2023: produce text messages with “Mr. John” of Defendant Private Protective Services, Inc. (PPS), and either pay $16,760 in previously awarded attorney’s fees or submit a sworn declaration establishing that he could not pay some or all of that amount. The opinion identifies “Mr. John” as John Tejeda of PPS.
Alexander submitted a declaration stating that he was a full-time college student, could not pay attorney’s fees, and found the payment an undue burden. The court noted that the declaration contained no factual support or supporting documents. Alexander also failed to produce the requested text messages by the deadline. At a February 17, 2023 deposition, he testified under oath that the messages were saved in his iCloud account but that he could not access the account because his aunt had the password.
Order
The court ordered Alexander to send the court, for private judicial review, copies of his federal and New York State tax returns for the past three years and monthly statements for his principal checking and savings accounts covering January 1, 2022, through the present. The deadline was March 13, 2023. The court stated that these materials would help determine whether Alexander could pay some or all of the previously awarded attorney’s fees in one payment or over a specified period.
The court also ordered Alexander, by March 13, 2023, to file a letter identifying his aunt’s name, address, telephone number, and email address. The purpose was to allow her to be required to testify about the password for, and access to, Alexander’s iCloud account.
Potential Sanction and Disposition
The order stated that, if Alexander failed to comply timely with all parts of the order, Judge Aaron would recommend to Judge Oetken that the case be dismissed with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), for failure to prosecute, and Rule 16(f)(1)(C), for failure to obey a pretrial order. The court cited authority recognizing a district court’s power to dismiss for failure to prosecute and to impose pretrial sanctions. This March 6 order ordered further compliance and warned of a possible dismissal recommendation; it did not itself dismiss the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.