Alvarez v. Horel

Filing 9

ORDER by Judge ARMSTRONG granting 7 Motion for Leave to File (lrc, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/23/2009)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 v. ROBERT A. HOREL, et al., Defendants. / SERGIO ALVAREZ, Plaintiff, IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA No. C 07-01678 SBA (PR) ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE A SUPPLEMENTAL COMPLAINT (Docket no. 7)

Before the Court is Plaintiff's request for leave to file a supplemental complaint "adding several parties and supplemental events having 'some relationship' to the claims in the original complaint." (Mot. for Leave to Am. at 1.) A plaintiff may amend his complaint once as a matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is served. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). Where a plaintiff seeks to amend after a responsive pleading has already been served, however, the decision whether to grant leave to amend is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Waits v. Weller, 653 F.2d 1288, 1290 (9th Cir. 1981). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) is to be applied liberally in favor of amendments and, in general, leave shall be freely given when justice so requires. Janicki Logging Co. v. Mateer, 42 F.3d 561, 566 (9th Cir. 1994). The Court notes that the defendants in this action have not been served at this time. Plaintiff may as a matter of course amend his complaint because a responsive pleading has not yet been served. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for leave to file a supplemental complaint is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court is directed to file the document attached to Plaintiff's motion, which is labeled "Proposed Supplemental Complaint for Violations Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983," and docket the aforementioned document as Plaintiff's "Supplemental Complaint." The Clerk is further directed to

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

mark the Supplemental Complaint as filed on May 19, 2008, the date it was received by the Court. The Court will review Plaintiff's original and supplemental complaints in a separate written Order. This Order terminates Docket no. 7. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: 2/20/09 SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG United States District Judge

2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SERGIO ALVAREZ, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT A. HOREL et al, Defendant. /

Case Number: CV07-01678 SBA CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. That on February 23, 2009, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery receptacle located in the Clerk's office.

Sergio Alvarez K42605 Pelican Bay State Prison P.O. Box 7500 Crescent City, CA 95532-7500 Dated: February 23, 2009 Richard W. Wieking, Clerk By: LISA R CLARK, Deputy Clerk

3