Boyd v. Guthrie
- Nelson Roman
- 7:22-cv-08549
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Boyd v. Guthrie, Judge Reznik ordered marshals to serve two newly added defendants and required their discovery responses.
Nyjee Boyd, Kyle E. Barnes, Adam Padrone, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Barnes and Padrone must respond to the specified discovery requests within 120 days after service of the amended complaint.
What happened
In Boyd v. Guthrie, Nyjee Boyd, who is representing himself and has been allowed to proceed without prepaying filing fees, added Kyle E. Barnes and Adam Padrone as defendants in his civil-rights lawsuit. The case concerns events Boyd says occurred while he was incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
The court ordered the Clerk to issue summonses, complete service forms, and send the necessary papers to the U.S. Marshals Service so Barnes and Padrone could be served. It also ordered those defendants to respond to specified prisoner-case discovery requests within 120 days after receiving the amended complaint.
Judge Victoria Reznik entered the Second Amended Order of Service on March 12, 2024. The order addressed service and discovery requirements; it did not decide whether Boyd’s underlying claims were valid.
The detailed version
- Boyd v. Guthrie · No. 7:22-cv-08549
- Nelson Roman
- Mar. 12, 2024
Background
Nyjee Boyd, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking damages. The complaint concerns alleged events at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Boyd had been allowed to proceed without prepaying filing fees, which means the court and the U.S. Marshals Service could handle service of process for him.
Boyd’s amended complaint added six defendants, including Kyle E. Barnes and Adam Padrone. An earlier amended service order directed service on four of the newly added defendants but inadvertently did not include Barnes and Padrone. During a March 12, 2024 telephone status conference, Boyd notified the court of that omission.
Court’s ruling
The court directed the Clerk of Court to issue summonses for Barnes and Padrone, complete the U.S. Marshals Service process forms with their addresses, and deliver the documents needed for the Marshals Service to serve them. The court explained that service generally must be completed within 90 days after the summonses are issued and that Boyd must request an extension if needed. It also stated that Boyd must notify the court in writing if his address changes and that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
The court further ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies to this prisoner case. Under that rule, Barnes and Padrone must respond to the specified interrogatories and requests for production within 120 days after service of the amended complaint. Their responses must quote each discovery request word for word.
Effect of the order
This was an order about serving newly added defendants and obtaining initial discovery responses. It did not decide the merits of Boyd’s civil-rights claims or determine whether any defendant is liable. The Clerk was also directed to mail Boyd a copy of the order.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.