Carson v. Griffin et al
Filing
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ORDER by Judge Kandis A. Westmore granting in part and denying in part 15 Motion for Alternate Service (kawlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/28/2013)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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FLETCHER CARSON,
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Plaintiff,
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Northern District of California
United States District Court
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Case No.: 13-cv-0520 KAW
ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF'S
THIRD MOTION TO ALLOW ALTERNATE
SERVICE
vs.
WALSH GRIFFIN, et al.,
Defendants.
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Plaintiff Fletcher Carson, who is proceeding pro se, filed the complaint in this case on
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February 6, 2013. The Court denied Plaintiff's Motion to Allow Alternate Service on Defendants
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without prejudice on April 16, 2013. Plaintiff filed a second Motion to Allow Alternate Service of
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Defendants on April 22, 2013. The Court granted this motion in part, and gave Plaintiff an
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opportunity to cure the defects explained in the Court's order.
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In the instant motion, Plaintiff seeks to demonstrate that he has served the following
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individuals and companies: Priscilla Ellis, Kenietta Johnson, John Kagose, Vicken International
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Traders LLC, and KVP Consultants. All of these individuals and companies are supposedly located
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in the United States.
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Plaintiff asserts that he has sent each of these Defendants registered emails containing all of
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the service documents. The emails were sent through a service called RPost Holdings, which,
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according to Plaintiff, returns an acknowledgement that the recipient's email inbox received the email.
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For the following reasons, the motion is granted in part.
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As explained in the Court's previous order, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e)(1) provides
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that βan individual . . . may be served in a judicial district of the United States by: following state law
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for serving a summons in an action brought in courts of general jurisdiction in the state where the
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district court is located or where service is made.β As this Court is located in California, service of
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process is governed by California law. Section 415.30 of the California Code of Civil Procedure
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provides that service may be made by first-class mail to the person to be served. The sender must
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mail a copy of the summons and complaint to the person to be served, together with two copies of the
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notice and acknowledgement set out in section 415.30(b), and a return, postage-paid envelope.
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Service is complete when the acknowledgment is returned to the sender.
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Section 413.30 of the California Code of Civil Procedure states, β[w]here no provision is made
Northern District of California
in this chapter or other law for the service of summons, the court in which the action is pending may
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United States District Court
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direct that summons be served in a manner which is reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the
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party to be served and that proof of such service be made as prescribed by the court.β
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A corporation, partnership or association in the United States may be served in the same
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manner for serving an individual under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e)(1), or, "by delivering a
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copy of the summons and of the complaint to an officer." Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1)(A), (B).
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Service on an individual, corporation, partnership or association may also be accomplished by
obtaining a waiver of service under Rule 4(d).
In the instant motion, Plaintiff now explains that he attempted to serve the above individuals
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by sending them the documents required by Section 415.30 of the California Code of Civil Procedure,
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as well as by requesting a waiver of service under Rule 4(h). But none of the Defendants returned the
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acknowledgement of service or waiver of service forms within the allotted time periods. Thus,
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Plaintiff seeks to serve them through the registered email process explained above.
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As the Court has explained in its previous orders, service may be accomplished under Section
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413.20 by sending registered emails to email addresses through which Plaintiff has corresponded with
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Defendants. Plaintiff states that he corresponded with Priscilla Ellis through the email address
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mspajd@aol.com, and sent the service documents to this address. Accordingly, Priscilla Ellis is
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deemed served. However, Plaintiff does not explain that he has corresponded with Kenietta Johnson
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or John Kagose through this, or any other email address. They are not reasonably calculated to
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receive actual notice of this lawsuit through emails to Priscilla Ellis' email address. Thus, they are not
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deemed served.
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As stated above, service on a company may be effected by serving a copy of the
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summons and the complaint to an officer of the company. Plaintiff has explained that Priscilla
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Ellis is the president of Vicken International Traders LLC, and the CEO of KVP Consultants.
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Plaintiff has sent the required documents to Priscilla Ellis through email. Accordingly, the
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two companies are deemed served.
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It is hereby ORDERED that Plaintiff's third Motion for Alternate Service is granted in part and
International Traders LLC, and KVP Consultants. Kenietta Johnson and John Kagose have not been
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Northern District of California
denied in part. The following individual and businesses are deemed served: Priscilla Ellis, Vicken
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United States District Court
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shown to have been served. This order is issued without prejudice for Plaintiff to cure the defects in
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service, and submit another motion for alternate service, if necessary.
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DATE: June 28, 2013
__________________________
KANDIS A. WESTMORE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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