Cranford v. State of Nevada, et al

Filing 47

ORDER that the Nevada Office of the Attorney General shall investigate the matter and file a status report informing the court of its findings on or before 1/19/2018. If Plaintiff's death is confirmed the Nevada Office of the Attorney General shall file a suggestion of death on the record on or before 1/19/2018. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen on 1/5/2018. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)

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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6 *** 7 DUKE F. CRANFORD, 8 v. 9 10 Case No. 2:15-cv-02189-GMN-PAL Plaintiff, ORDER E.K. McDANIEL, et al., (Mail Returned Undeliverable – ECF No. 46) Defendants. 11 12 This matter is before the court on a review of the record. 13 Plaintiff Duke K. Cranford is a pro se prisoner in the custody of the Nevada Department of 14 Corrections (“NDOC”) at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. Plaintiff commenced this 15 action on November 18, 2015. This case arises from Plaintiff’s claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1983, 16 regarding his treatment while he was incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison (“HDSP”). The 17 court has found that the Second Amended Complaint (ECF No. 11) states a plausible Eighth 18 Amendment claim for deliberate indifference to a serious medical need against Defendants E.K. 19 McDaniels, Romeo Aranas, B. Stroud, Dr. Leaks, and nurse Molly. Screening Order (ECF 20 No. 13). 21 On December 9, 2016, the Nevada Office of the Attorney General (“Attorney General”) 22 accepted service on behalf of Defendants E.K. McDaniels, Romeo Aranas, and Bruce Stroud (the 23 “NDOC Defendants”). Notice Acceptance of Service (ECF No. 20). The NDOC Defendants filed 24 an Answer (ECF No. 23) to the Second Amended Complaint. 25 The court extended the deadline for Plaintiff to accomplish service on Defendants Molly 26 Chiello and Dr. George Leaks until July 14, 2017. Orders (ECF Nos. 30, 41). The record indicates 27 that service was not effected for Chiello. May 5, 2017 Summons Returned Unexecuted (ECF 28 No. 36). However, Plaintiff did not file a motion before the July 14, 2017 deadline specifying a 1 1 more detailed name and/or address, or whether some other manner of service should be attempted. 2 Service was executed for Defendant Dr. George Leaks, June 7, 2017 Summons Returned Executed 3 (ECF No. 43), but no answer has been filed to date. No party has filed a certificate of interested 4 parties pursuant to LR 7.1-1 of the Local Rules of Practice 5 On August 2, 2017, the Clerk of the Court issued a Notice of Intent to Dismiss Pursuant to 6 FRCP 4(m) (ECF No. 45), altering Plaintiff that no proper proof of service had been filed regarding 7 Defendant Chiello. The notice was returned to the court indicating that Plaintiff was “Deceased 8 6/19/17.” Mail Returned Undeliverable (ECF No. 46). 9 Plaintiff’s last court filings are dated May 15, 2017. See Min. Order (ECF No. 40) 10 (returning Plaintiff’s improperly filed interrogatories). A public records search on NDOC’s online 11 search engine for Mr. Cranford states “Inactive–Death.” 12 Accordingly, 13 IT IS ORDERED: 14 1. The Nevada Office of the Attorney General shall investigate the matter file a status 15 16 17 18 report informing the court of its findings on or before January 19, 2018. 2. If Plaintiff’s death is confirmed, the Nevada Office of the Attorney General shall file a suggestion of death on the record on or before January 19, 2018. Dated this 5th day of January, 2018. 19 20 PEGGY A. LEEN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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