McKinney v. Warwick New York Village Police Department
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-10405
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In McKinney v. Warwick Police Department, Judge Roman ordered service and help identifying a John Doe officer while denying appeal IFP status.
The order affects Ivan G. McKinney, the Warwick Police Department, the Town of Warwick, and the unidentified police officer McKinney seeks to sue. It directs the court and U.S. Marshals Service to handle service and requires the Police Department to identify the officer.
What happened
In McKinney v. Warwick Police Department, Ivan G. McKinney, who is incarcerated in New Jersey and representing himself, alleges that a Warwick Village Police Department officer sexually assaulted him on July 4, 1993.
Because the court had allowed McKinney to proceed without paying court fees upfront, it ordered the Clerk and U.S. Marshals Service to prepare and serve papers on the Warwick Police Department and the Town of Warwick. The court also ordered the Police Department to identify the John Doe officer and provide a service address within 60 days.
McKinney must file an amended complaint naming the officer within 30 days after receiving that information. Judge Nelson S. Roman also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- McKinney v. Warwick New York Village Police Department · No. 7:23-cv-10405
- Nelson Roman
- Mar. 15, 2024
Background
Ivan G. McKinney, who is incarcerated in New Jersey and proceeding without a lawyer, alleges that an officer with the Warwick Village Police Department sexually assaulted him on July 4, 1993. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without paying court fees upfront.
Service on the Named Defendants
Because McKinney was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the court ordered the Clerk of Court to issue summonses and prepare U.S. Marshals Service forms for the Warwick Police Department and the Town of Warwick. The Clerk must provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve those defendants.
The court extended the service deadline so that the 90-day period begins when the summonses are issued. If service is not completed within 90 days after issuance, McKinney should request more time. The court also warned that he must notify the court in writing if his address changes and that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Identifying the John Doe Officer
The court concluded that McKinney’s complaint appeared to provide enough information for the Warwick Police Department to identify the police officer whom McKinney seeks to sue. The court ordered the Police Department to identify that officer and provide the officer’s service address to McKinney and the court within 60 days.
Within 30 days after receiving that information, McKinney must file an amended complaint naming the officer. The amended complaint will replace, rather than add to, the original complaint. The court will screen the amended complaint and, if necessary, direct the Clerk to prepare service documents for the newly named defendant.
Disposition
Judge Nelson S. Roman directed the Clerk to issue summonses, prepare service forms, send the order and complaint to the Town of Warwick Police Department, and send McKinney an information package and a copy of the order. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.