Opinion
1:12-cv-01156-AWI-GSA-PC
12-11-2013
SUSAN MAE POLK, Plaintiff, v. MARY LATTIMORE, et al., Defendants.
ORDER STRIKING APPENDIX TO THIRD
AMENDED COMPLAINT
(Doc. 35.)
I. BACKGROUND
Susan Mae Polk ("Plaintiff") is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action was initiated by civil Complaint filed on July 16, 2012. (Doc. 1.) On December 2, 2013, Plaintiff filed the Third Amended, which awaits the court's requisite screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. (Doc. 34.) On December 4, 2013 Plaintiff filed an appendix in support of the Third Amended Complaint. (Doc. 35.)
II. LOCAL RULE 220
Local Rule 220 provides, in part:
Unless prior approval to the contrary is obtained from the Court, every pleading to which an amendment or supplement is permitted as a matter of right or has been allowed by court order shall be retyped and filed so that it is complete in itself without reference to the prior or superseded pleading. No pleading shall be deemed amended or supplemented until this Rule has been complied with. All changed pleadings shall contain copies of all exhibits referred to in the changed pleading.
Plaintiff seeks to add an appendix to the Third Amended Complaint by filing the appendix after the Third Amended Complaint was filed. Plaintiff may not amend the complaint in this manner. Under Rule 220, Plaintiff may not amend the complaint by adding information piecemeal after the complaint has been filed. To add or change information in the Third Amended Complaint, Plaintiff must file a new Fourth Amended Complaint which is complete within itself. Therefore, Plaintiff's appendix shall be stricken from the court's record.
Moreover, Plaintiff has been forewarned that her complaint may not exceed 25 pages. (Order, Doc. 31.)
Plaintiff is advised that she is not permitted to file a Fourth Amended Complaint without obtaining leave of court. Under Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, a party may amend the party's pleading once as a matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is served. Otherwise, a party may amend only by leave of the court or by written consent of the adverse party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). Here, because Plaintiff has previously amended the complaint, she requires leave of court to amend the complaint again.
III. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's appendix to the Third Amended Complaint, filed on December 4, 2013, is STRICKEN from the court's record. IT IS SO ORDERED.
When a document is stricken, it becomes a nullity and is not considered by the court for any purpose.
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Gary S. Austin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE