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Keywords

plaintiffdefendantlitigationappealcivil procedure

plaintiffdefendantcivil procedure

Related Cases

Staples v. United States, 762 Fed.Appx. 525

Facts

On June 24, 2016, Staples filed a Bivens action alleging that correctional officer Gonzalez sexually assaulted him while he was housed at the Federal Transfer Center. He asserted claims against Gonzalez in both his official and individual capacities, as well as against the United States and two prison officials for failing to protect him. After multiple failed attempts to serve Gonzalez, the district court dismissed the case without prejudice for failure to timely serve process.

On June 24, 2016, Staples filed a Bivens action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, alleging that a correctional officer named 'Gonzalez' had sexually assaulted him in July 2014 while he was temporarily housed at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Issue

Did the district court err in dismissing Staples' Eighth Amendment claim against Gonzalez for failure to timely serve process?

Rule

Under Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff must serve each defendant within 90 days of filing the complaint, and the court may dismiss the action against an unserved defendant without prejudice if the plaintiff fails to do so.

Under Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff must serve each defendant a summons and a copy of the complaint.

Analysis

The court found that Staples failed to effect personal service on Gonzalez despite multiple attempts and extensions of time. The court noted that Staples did not provide good cause for his failure to serve Gonzalez, as he had not even identified Gonzalez's whereabouts after 21 months of litigation. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the case.

Despite two extensions of time for service and eight attempts, Staples failed to effect personal service on Gonzalez.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of Staples' case without prejudice for failure to timely serve process.

Accordingly, on March 16, 2018, the court dismissed the case without prejudice under Rule 4(m) and entered judgment.

Who won?

The prevailing party is the correctional officer Gonzalez, as the court upheld the dismissal of the case against him due to Staples' failure to serve process.

The court sympathized with Staples’ situation but declined to 'indefinitely' delay the case 'without any realistic hope for better success in the near future in identifying and locating Defendant Gonzalez….'

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