Opinion
2:23-cv-0679 KJN P
04-28-2023
DAVID HAMILTON, Plaintiff, v. L. ABLES, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se. On April 11, 2023, plaintiff e-filed a civil rights complaint and marked the “First Amended Complaint” box. (ECF No. 1.) However, plaintiff's filing did not include a case number. Plaintiff's pleading was opened as a new action and assigned case No. 2:23-cv-0679 KJN. However, the court's own records reveal that on January 10, 2023, plaintiff filed a complaint containing virtually identical allegations. (2:23-cv-0050 DB P).
A court may take judicial notice of court records. See MGIC Indem. Co. v. Weisman, 803 F.2d 500, 505 (9th Cir. 1986); United States v. Wilson, 631 F.2d 118, 119 (9th Cir. 1980).
On April 19, 2023, plaintiff filed a copy of the amended complaint, accompanied by his notice of amendment to “avoid judicial misunderstanding.” (ECF No. 4 at 9.) The title of the filing references both case numbers, but clearly states “Notice of Amended Complaint of Case No. 2:23-cv-0050 DB.” (ECF No. 4 at 9.) After comparing the amended complaint filed in this action with the complaint filed in plaintiff's prior action, No. 2:23-0050 DB, the pleadings are virtually identical; one exception is that on page two, plaintiff identifies the first defendant as L. Ables; in his original complaint filed in the earlier action, the name for the first defendant was left blank.
Plaintiff's April 19, 2023 submission in the instant action makes clear that this action was improvidently opened. Plaintiff's April 11, 2023 filing was intended to be filed as an amended complaint in 2:23-cv-0050 DB. Therefore, the Clerk of the Court is directed to file the April 11, 2023 amended complaint in plaintiff's earlier action, 2:23-cv-0050 DB, and to terminate this action, 2:23-cv-0679 KJN, as improvidently opened.
Plaintiff is informed that all court filings must bear the assigned court case number. For all future filings, plaintiff should now use Hamilton v. Ables, No. 2:23-cv-0050 DB P.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to:
1. File the April 11, 2023 amended complaint (ECF No. 1) in plaintiff's prior case, Hamilton v. Ables, No. 2:23-cv-0050 DB P (E.D. Cal.), as his amended complaint; and
2. Terminate the instant case, Hamilton v. Ables, 2:23-cv-0679 KJN P (E.D. Cal.), as improvidently opened.