(PC) Harris v. Neve ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EARNEST S. HARRIS, Case No. 1:19-cv-01338-AWI-JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE THIRD 13 v. AMENDED COMPLAINT 14 D. NEVE, (Doc. 45) 15 Defendant. 16 17 Plaintiff requests leave to file a third amended complaint. (Doc. 45.) Plaintiff seeks to add 18 one claim regarding the alleged use of excessive force and retaliation by Defendant Neve between 19 May and June of 2018. (Id. at 1.) Defendant has not filed an opposition or a statement of non- 20 opposition to Plaintiff’s motion, and the time to do so has passed. See Local Rule 230(l). 21 Leave to amend a pleading “is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court,” 22 Pisciotta v. Teledyne Indus., Inc., 91 F.3d 1326, 1331 (9th Cir. 1996), and “[t]he court should 23 freely give leave when justice so requires,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). In exercising its “discretion, 24 a court must be guided by the underlying purpose of Rule 15 to facilitate decision on the merits, 25 rather than on the pleadings or technicalities . . . Accordingly, Rule 15’s policy of favoring 26 amendments to pleadings should be applied with extreme liberality.” United States v. Webb, 655 27 F.2d 977, 979 (9th Cir. 1981) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 1 Upon review of Plaintiff’s motion, including the proposed third amended complaint 2 lodged with the Court, (Doc. 46), the Court finds good cause to grant the motion. It appears, 3 however, that the lodged complaint is missing a page. (See id. at 6-7.) Therefore, the Court will 4 grant Plaintiff leave to file a new third amended complaint so that he may include every intended 5 page. 6 The Court reminds Plaintiff that an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint 7 and prior amendments. Lacey v. Maricopa Cty., 693 F.3d 896, 927 (9th Cir. 2012). Thus, a third 8 amended complaint must be “complete in itself without reference to the prior or superseded 9 pleading.” Local Rule 220. The Court provides Plaintiff with an opportunity to file a third 10 amended complaint to include the allegations and claim identified in his motion and proposed, 11 lodged complaint. Plaintiff may not, however, add additional, unrelated claims in a third amended 12 complaint. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS: 13 1. Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a third amended complaint (Doc. 45) is 14 GRANTED; 15 2. The Clerk’s Office shall send Plaintiff a civil rights complaint form; and, 16 3. Within 21 days of the date of service of this order, Plaintiff shall file a third 17 amended complaint as described in this order. 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 20 Dated: July 13, 2021 _ /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27