Huang v. Hill et al

Filing 91

ORDER denying 83 REQUEST for pre-motion conference, 84 MOTION for Partial Summary Judgment (Signed by Judge George C Hanks, Jr) Parties notified. Copy to plaintiff via reg. mail.(dperez, 3)

United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
GALVESTON DIVISION
DONG SHENG HUANG,
Plaintiff,
VS.
JALEA JOECHELLE HILL, et al,
Defendants.

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January 06, 2017
David J. Bradley, Clerk

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:15-CV-0269

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’
MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The Court has considered the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment filed by
Defendants Jalea Joechelle Hill, Karea Marie Williams, and Murphy Oil USA, Inc., Dkts.
83, 84.
The factual and legal background of this case has been laid out previously. The
Court takes judicial notice of the docket sheet of this case, as well as related proceedings
in this Court.
The issue presented here is simple: is Huang’s suit timely? Defendants seek
summary judgment by arguing that Huang’s cause of action for malicious civil
prosecution occurred on September 18, 2014, and that cause of action is governed by a
one-year statute of limitations.
When a petition to proceed in forma pauperis is granted, the proper filing of that
petition “does not jeopardize the timeliness of the plaintiff’s commencement of suit.”
Ynclan v. Dep't of Air Force, 943 F.2d 1388, 1392–93 (5th Cir. 1991) (citing Hernandez
v. Aldridge, 902 F.2d 386, 388 (5th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1086, 111 S.Ct.
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962, 112 L.Ed.2d 1049 (1991); see also Martin v. Demma, 831 F.2d 69 (5th Cir. 1987)
(“Clerical delay in the formal filing of this in forma pauperis complaint should not affect
the operative event, that is, the receipt of the complaint by the court.”); McClelland v.
Herlitz, Inc., 704 F.Supp. 749, 751 (N.D. Tex. 1989).
Huang filed his application to proceed in forma pauperis, along with his proposed
complaint, in this Court on September 17, 2015. See Dongsheng v. Hill et al, Cause No.
3:15-mc-00008, S.D. Texas, Galveston Division. The Court granted that petition on
September 21, 2015, and the Clerk of this Court then opened this current lawsuit and
filed the attached complaint within. See Dkt. 1, Complaint. Thus, Huang’s suit was
commenced within the one-year statute of limitations.
Accordingly, the Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.
SIGNED at Galveston, Texas, this 6th day of January, 2017.
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George C. Hanks Jr.
United States District Judge

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