Turner, James v. Ashworth, Tony et al

Filing 11

ORDER that any motions to substitute defendant Charles Cole due by 1/8/18. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peter A. Oppeneer on 10/18/2017. (nln),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
JAMES ROBERT TURNER,

v.

ORDER

Plaintiff,

17-cv-363-jdp
TONY ASHWORTH, CHRISTINE PROCKNOW,
MICHAEL MIESNER, JOANNE LANE,
CHARLES COLE and CHARLES FACKTOR,
Defendants.
In an order entered on September 18, 2017, plaintiff James Robert Turner was
granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis against defendants Tony Ashworth, Christine
Procknow, Michael Miesner, Joanne Lane, Charles Cole and Charles Facktor. Pursuant to an
informal service agreement between the Wisconsin Department of Justice and this court, the
Attorney General’s office has filed an Acceptance of Service of plaintiff’s complaint on behalf
of all defendants, except Charles Cole.
The Attorney General’s office has not accepted service on behalf of Charles Cole
because he is deceased. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(a)(1) sets forth the procedure that
must be followed when a party to a lawsuit dies:
If a party dies and the claim is not extinguished, the court may order
substitution of the proper party. A motion for substitution may be
made by any party or by the decedent’s successor or representative. If
the motion is not made within 90 days after service of a statement
noting the death, the action by or against the decedent must be
dismissed.
If no motion is filed by January 8, 2018, defendant Cole will be dismissed.
Additionally, pursuant to an informal service agreement between the Wisconsin

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Department of Justice and this court, the Department has agreed to accept electronic service
of documents on behalf of the defendants it represents. This means that for the remainder of
this lawsuit, plaintiff does not have to send a paper copy of each document he files with the
court to the Department or defendants Tony Ashworth, Christine Procknow, Michael
Miesner, Joanne Lane and Charles Facktor. The Department will access the document
through the court’s electronic filing system. Discovery requests or responses are an exception
to the electronic service rule. Usually, those documents should be sent directly to counsel for
the opposing party and do not have to be sent to the court. Discovery procedures will be
explained more fully at the soon-to-be-scheduled preliminary pretrial conference.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that if no party moves to substitute defendant Charles Cole’s estate
as a defendant by January 8, 2018, defendant Cole will be dismissed from the case.

Entered this 18th day of October, 2017.

BY THE COURT:

/s/
PETER OPPENEER
Magistrate Judge

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