Holmes v. Bentivegna
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-05462
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Holmes v. Bentivegna, Judge Roman ordered service steps and added Andrea Barrett after identifying the previously unnamed nurse.
Marvin Holmes, Andrea Barrett, and Jack Johnson are directly affected. The Clerk of Court and the U.S. Marshals Service are directed to take steps to add Barrett and serve Barrett and Johnson.
What happened
In Holmes v. Bentivegna, Marvin Holmes, who is incarcerated and representing himself, sued medical and corrections-related defendants under a federal civil-rights law over alleged indifference to serious medical needs. The court had already allowed him to proceed without paying filing fees and had directed service on several defendants.
The New York Attorney General’s Office provided information identifying the previously unnamed nurse as Andrea Barrett and supplied an address for Jack Johnson. The court ordered the Clerk to add Barrett to the case and prepare summonses and service forms for Barrett and Johnson so the U.S. Marshals Service can serve them.
Judge Nelson S. Roman issued the supplemental service order on October 6, 2023. The order addressed service and case administration; it did not decide whether Holmes’s medical-needs claims were legally valid.
The detailed version
- Holmes v. Bentivegna · No. 7:23-cv-05462
- Nelson Roman
- Oct. 6, 2023
Background
Marvin Holmes, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, brought claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. The court had granted Holmes permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees and had directed the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Dr. John Morley, Dr. Robert Bentivegna, and Dr. Lester Silver.
The court had also directed the New York State Attorney General’s Office to identify the nurse who drew a blood sample from Holmes on October 19, 2019, at Green Haven Correctional Facility, and to determine Jack Johnson’s address. The Attorney General’s Office responded in letters dated September 11, October 2, and October 3, 2023.
Order
Based on the information provided, the court identified the previously unnamed nurse as Andrea Barrett. It instructed the Clerk of Court to add Barrett as a defendant in the caption and docket.
The court also instructed the Clerk to prepare a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for Barrett and Johnson, issue summonses, and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve them. The order states that if the complaint is not served within 90 days after the summonses are issued, Holmes should request an extension of time. It also directs Holmes to notify the court in writing if his address changes.
Disposition and significance
The court entered a supplemental order of service. It directed the Clerk to issue summonses and complete service forms for Andrea Barrett and Jack Johnson, add Barrett as a defendant, and mail the order to Holmes. This was a procedural order about identifying defendants and arranging service; the court did not rule on the merits of Holmes’s claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.