Opinion
1:11-cv-01472-GSA-PC
10-26-2011
ANDY D. RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. MARGARET MIMS, et al., Defendants.
ORDER STRIKING EXHIBIT
(Doc. 10.)
Andy D. Rodriguez ("Plaintiff") is a civil detainee proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the Complaint commencing this action on September 2, 2011. (Doc. 1.) On October 6, 2011, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint. (Doc. 9.) On October 24, 2011, Plaintiff filed an Exhibit to the First Amended Complaint. (Doc. 10.)
Plaintiff may not add an Exhibit to the First Amended Complaint in this manner. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. L.R. 220. To add an Exhibit to the First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff must file a Second Amended Complaint which is complete in itself, including the Exhibit. Therefore, the Court shall strike Plaintiff's Exhibit from the court's record.
Plaintiff is advised that if he wishes to file a Second Amended Complaint, he must obtain leave of court. Under Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules 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. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). Otherwise, a party may amend only by leave of the court or by written consent of the adverse party, and leave shall be freely given when justice so requires. Id. Here, because Plaintiff has already amended the complaint once, Plaintiff requires leave of court to file a Second Amended Complaint. "Rule 15(a) is very liberal and leave to amend 'shall be freely given when justice so requires.'" AmerisourceBergen Corp. v. Dialysis West, Inc., 445 F.3d 1132, 1136 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)).
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Exhibit to the First Amended Complaint, filed on October 24, 2011, is STRICKEN from the court's record.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Gary S. Austin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE