Jiron v. State of Colorado et al

Filing 2

ORDER of Dismissal because petitioner lacks standing to file and prosecute a criminal action, by Judge Lewis T. Babcock on 02/10/14. (nmarb, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Case No. 14-mc-00017-LTB
LAWRENCE M. JIRON,
Petitioner,
v.
STATE OF COLORADO, in the United States of America,
DAVID M. THORSON,
THOMAS K. LE DOUX,
MICHAEL L. PIRRAGLIA,
JAMES FALK,
RICK RAEMISCH,
STEVE HAGER,
JOHN W. SUTHERS, Att. Gen., and
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Gov.,
Defendants.

ORDER OF DISMISSAL

Petitioner, Lawrence M. Jiron, is a prisoner in the custody of the Colorado
Department of Corrections. Mr. Jiron has submitted for filing a pleading titled Criminal
Complaint/Demand to be Released (ECF No. 1) and a Complaint (ECF No. 1-1) alleging
that Defendants have violated a number of federal criminal statutes. For the reasons
stated below, the Court will dismiss the action.
Courts universally endorse the principle that private citizens cannot prosecute
criminal actions. See, e.g., Cok v. Cosentino, 876 F.2d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1989) (per curiam);
Connecticut Action Now, Inc. v. Roberts Plating Co., 457 F.2d 81, 86-87 (2d Cir.1972)
(“It is a truism, and has been for many decades, that in our federal system crimes are

always prosecuted by the Federal Government, not as has sometimes been done in
Anglo-American jurisdictions by private complaints.”); Winslow v. Romer, 759 F. Supp.
670, 673 (D. Colo.1991) (“Private citizens generally have no standing to institute federal
criminal proceedings.”). Therefore, the Court finds that Mr. Jiron lacks standing to
invoke the authority of United States attorneys under 28 U.S.C. § 547 to prosecute for
offenses against the United States.
Mr. Jiron’s argument that the Court lacks authority to dismiss his criminal
complaint because it is addressed to the United States Attorney lacks merit. Mr. Jiron
has submitted the criminal complaint to the Court for filing. If Mr. Jiron wishes merely to
correspond with the United States Attorney, he should not submit pleadings to the
Court. Finally, to the extent Mr. Jiron seeks to challenge the constitutionality of a state
court criminal conviction or to be released from custody, he must file an application for a
writ of habeas corpus after exhausting state remedies. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the action is dismissed because Lawrence M. Jiron lacks
standing to file and prosecute a criminal action.
DATED at Denver, Colorado, this 10th day of

February

, 2014.

BY THE COURT:

s/Lewis T. Babcock
LEWIS T. BABCOCK, Senior Judge
United States District Court

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