Mayweather-Brown v. Rodgers et al

Filing 6

OPINION AND ORDER: The court GRANTS Quintin Mayweather-Brown until 1/4/2017, to file an amended complaint; and CAUTIONS him that, if he does not respond by that deadline, this case will be dismissed without further notice because the current complaint is untimely. Signed by Judge Joseph S Van Bokkelen on 11/23/2016. (lhc)(cc: Plaintiff)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION
Quintin Mayweather-Brown,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 3:16-CV-444 JVB

Brad Rodgers, et al.,
Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
Quintin Mayweather-Brown, a pro se prisoner, filed a complaint against ten defendants
based on events which occurred as a part of his arrest and incarceration in Elkhart County Jail on
and immediately following March 20, 2014. “A document filed pro se is to be liberally construed,
and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than
formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (quotation marks
and citations omitted). Nevertheless, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the court must review the
merits of a prisoner complaint. Here, the complaint is untimely because it was filed after the
expiration of the statute of limitations.
Indiana’s two-year limitations period applies to this case. Behavioral Inst. of Ind., LLC v.
Hobart City of Common Council, 406 F.3d 926, 929 (7th Cir. 2005). The clerk received the
complaint on July 5, 2016. However, Mayweather-Brown is entitled to the mailbox rule because
he is incarcerated. See Edwards v. United States, 266 F.3d 756, 758 (7th Cir. 2001). Here, the
complaint is dated March 10, 2016, but it is clear that it was not mailed on that day because it was
enclosed with an in forma pauperis petition signed on June 2, 2016. In addition, the enclosure had
a copy of his inmate ledger printed on June 2, 2016. Hence, the earliest that the Complaint could
have been mailed was June 2, but that's nearly three months after the statute of limitations expired.

Although the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, dismissal is appropriate where
the complaint makes clear that the claims are time barred. Cancer Found., Inc. v. Cerberus Capital
Mgmt. 559 F.3d 671, 674 (7th Cir. 2009). Therefore, these claims are untimely and the case must
be dismissed.
Nevertheless, because he may have claims against one or more of the defendants on the
basis of the events described in this complaint which occurred within two years before he mailed
this complaint, he may file an amended complaint limited to such claims. See Luevano v. WalMart, 722 F.3d 1014 (7th Cir. 2013). A copy of this court’s approved complaint form---Prisoner
Complaint (INND Rev. 8/16)---is available in his prison law library. In the amended complaint (if
he files one), Plaintiff needs to state when he mailed the original complaint in this case. He also
needs to clarify when each event happened in 2014 which gives rise to his remaining claims.
For these reasons, the court GRANTS Quintin Mayweather-Brown until January 4, 2017,
to file an amended complaint; and CAUTIONS him that, if he does not respond by that deadline,
this case will be dismissed without further notice because the current complaint is untimely.
SO ORDERED on November 23, 2016.

s/ Joseph S. Van Bokkelen
JOSEPH S. VAN BOKKELEN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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