Walker v. Carvajal et al

Filing 7

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING 4 Plaintiff's MOTION to Withdraw Companion Case filed by Paul E. Walker. Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (LWag)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
______________________________________________________________________
PAUL E. WALKER,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 20-11408

M.D. CARVAJAL, WILLIAM BARR,
JONATHAN HEMINGWAY, and,
DANIEL CLORE,
Defendants.
__________________________________/
OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW
COMPANION CASE
Plaintiff Paul E. Walker, presently confined at the Federal Correctional Institution
in Milan, Michigan, filed a civil rights complaint. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff challenges his
current confinement, claiming his health is at risk due to the Coronavirus Disease
(“COVID-19”).
Plaintiff has filed a “Motion to [W]ithdraw/[D]ismiss [C]ompanion [C]ase.” (ECF
No. 4.) He seeks to dismiss this action on the ground that it is a companion case to
United States v. Walker, Case No. 19-20552. In that criminal case, the court sentenced
Plaintiff on October 29, 2019 to sixteen months imprisonment for violations of
supervised release conditions. (ECF No. 13, PageID.78.) For the reasons stated below,
the court will grant Plaintiff’s motion and dismiss his complaint without prejudice.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a) provides that “[a] plaintiff may dismiss an
action without a court order by filing . . . a notice of dismissal before the opposing party

serves either an answer or a motion for summary judgment.” Aamot v. Kassel, 1 F.3d
441, 443 (6th Cir. 1993) (“Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1) limits the plaintiff's authority to
dismiss his complaint without prejudice and without the permission of either the adverse
party or the court to the period of time before the defendant files an answer or a motion
for summary judgment.”).
Here, Defendants have not filed an answer; they have not moved for summary
judgment. Plaintiff is entitled to dismiss his complaint without prejudice. Fed. R. Civ. P.
41(a)(1). Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s “Motion to [W]ithdraw/[D]ismiss [C]ompanion
[C]ase” (ECF No. 4) is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s complaint (ECF No. 1) is DISMISSED
WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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Dated: June 30, 2020
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of record
on this date, June 30, 2020, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
[phone]
S:\Cleland\Cleland\JUDGE'S DESK\C2 ORDERS\20-11408.WALKER.MotiontoWithdrawCompanionCase.DHB.RMK.docx

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