Annabel v. Frost et al

Filing 166

ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE PLAINTIFF'S 120 Motion to Compel- Signed by Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen. (CCie)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ROBERT ANNABEL,
Plaintiff,

No. 14-10244

v.

District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow
Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen

JACK FROST, ET AL.,
Defendants.
/
ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel U.S. Marshal to Serve Subpoena
[Doc. #120]. Specifically, he requests that the Marshal serve a document subpoena on
non-party Zoe Keller in Bismark, North Dakota. He states that “Zoe Keller” is a
pseudonym, and he does not know the actual name of the person. Nevertheless, he states
that he sent one “Zoe Keller” 10 pages of documents for storage, and has been unable to
retrieve those documents.
On December 28, 2017, the Court provisionally granted Plaintiff’s motion for
appointment of counsel. See Order [Doc. #153]. Pro bono counsel, when appointed, can
likely more efficiently obtain copies of the documents that Plaintiff seeks, including
service of subpoenas, including a subpoena or other request to the MDOC to obtain the
grievance documentation.1 The prudent course of action, then, is to deny Plaintiff’s
In Billman v. Indiana Dept. of Corrections 56 F.3d 785, 790 (7th Cir. 1995), the
issue was the identification of a defendant whose name the plaintiff did not know, and
how the court might discharge its duty to assist a pro se inmate in making the necessary
investigation. Judge Posner stated, “One possibility is for the judge to request a
lawyer...to represent the prisoner for the limited purpose of determining whether the
complaint can be amended to name as defendant anyone who there is reason to believe
1

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motion without prejudice at this time.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel U.S. Marshal to
Serve Subpoena [Doc. #120] is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
Dated: January 25, 2018

s/R. Steven Whalen
R. STEVEN WHALEN
U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify on January 25, 2018 that I electronically filed the foregoing paper with
the Clerk of the Court sending notification of such filing to all counsel registered
electronically. I hereby certify that a copy of this paper was mailed to non-registered ECF
participants on January 25, 2018.
s/Carolyn M. Ciesla
Case Manager for the
Honorable R. Steven Whalen

inflicted an actionable wrong on the plaintiff.” In Mr. Annabel’s case, of course, the
Court has provisionally appointed counsel for purposes of handling the entire case.
Plaintiff might also himself request copies of his grievance documentation from
the MDOC.
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