O'Neil v. Community Corrections Officers et al

Filing 37

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE re Plaintiff's 15 Amended Complaint, filed by Brandon James O'Neil. DOC Defendants Darrin Patterson and Jerry Sword, and Pierce County Defendants Rees Evans and Elizabeth Riegle, shall SHOW CAUSE within twenty-one ( 21) days why the Court should not direct that they be personally served and why the cost of such personal service should not by assessed pursuant to Rule 4(d)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Signed by Hon. S. Kate Vaughan. **3 PAGE(S), PRINT ALL** (Brandon O'Neil, Prisoner ID: 300384) (SS)

Case 3:22-cv-05402-JCC-SKV Document 37 Filed 01/17/23 Page 1 of 3

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT TACOMA

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BRANDON JAMES O’NEIL,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, et al.,

Case No. C22-5402-JCC-SKV
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

Defendants.

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This is a civil rights action proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On November 8, 2022,

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this Court issued Orders directing service of Plaintiff’s second amended complaint on two sets of

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defendants. See Dkts. 16, 17. In the first Order, the Court directed service on thirteen

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individuals whom Plaintiff identified as employees of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office (“the

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Pierce County Defendants”) (Dkt. 16), and in the second Order the Court directed service on four

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individuals whom Plaintiff identified as Washington State Department of Corrections

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Community Corrections Officers (“the DOC Defendants”) (Dkt. 17). Included with the service

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materials were requests that each Defendant waive service of summons in this action. See Dkts.

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16, 17.

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
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Case 3:22-cv-05402-JCC-SKV Document 37 Filed 01/17/23 Page 2 of 3

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On November 21, 2022, the Court received a waiver of service from DOC Defendant

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Steven DePoister (Dkt. 26), on November 30, 2022, the Court received a waiver of service from

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DOC Defendant Isiah Garrison, and on December 2, 2022, counsel entered an appearance on

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behalf of these two Defendants. See Dkts. 26, 27, 29. On December 14, 2022, counsel entered a

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notice of appearance on behalf of DOC Defendant Darrin Patterson, though Mr. Patterson has yet

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to return the service waiver directed to him. See Dkt. 31. The remaining DOC Defendant, Jerry

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Sword, has also yet to return the service waiver directed to him and, because the service

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materials directed to him were not returned to the Court, the Court presumes they were received

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and Defendant Sword has simply not responded to them.

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On November 30, 2022, counsel appeared on behalf of all thirteen of the named Pierce

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County Defendants, and the Court thereafter received waivers of service from eleven of the

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thirteen named Defendants, all of which were signed by Defendants’ counsel. See Dkts. 28, 30,

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32, 34. The two Pierce County Defendants from whom service waivers have not been received

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are Rees Evans and Elizabeth Riegle. Though the service packets mailed to these two

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Defendants were returned to the Court as undeliverable on November 18, 2022, a number of

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service packets mailed to other Pierce County Defendants (Steven Hillyard, Ralph Schneider,

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Darrin Rayner, Derick Nielson, Shawn Butler, and Kenneth Silbrack) were also returned as

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undeliverable on the same date and yet those Defendants have since submitted waivers of

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service. See Dkts. 18-25, 30, 32, 34.

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Given the apparent inconsistencies in what the Court has received from the Pierce County

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Defendants as a whole, the status of Defendants Evans and Riegle is unclear. The fact that they

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are identified in counsel’s notice of appearance and in the Pierce County Defendants’ recently

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
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Case 3:22-cv-05402-JCC-SKV Document 37 Filed 01/17/23 Page 3 of 3

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filed answer to the second amended complaint suggests that they are aware of and intend to

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participate in this lawsuit, and that the failure to return the service waivers is a mere oversight. It

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is also conceivable, however, that neither Defendant Evans nor Defendant Riegle has received

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any notice of this lawsuit and that counsel’s submissions, to date, have been over-inclusive. The

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status of Defendants Evans and Riegle must be clarified so that additional steps can be taken to

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effectuate service on these Defendants if necessary.

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Based on the foregoing, the Court hereby ORDERS as follows:

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(1)

DOC Defendants Darrin Patterson and Jerry Sword, and Pierce County

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Defendants Rees Evans and Elizabeth Riegle, shall SHOW CAUSE within twenty-one (21) days

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why the Court should not direct that they be personally served and why the cost of such personal

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service should not by assessed pursuant to Rule 4(d)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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(2)

The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to Plaintiff, to Defendants

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Patterson, Sword, Evans and Riegle at the addresses provided for them in Plaintiff’s second

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amended complaint (Dkt. 15), to all counsel of record, and to the Honorable John C.

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Coughenour.

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DATED this 17th day of January, 2023.

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A

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S. KATE VAUGHAN
United States Magistrate Judge

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
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