Bravot v. Internal Revenue Service ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHRISTOPHER EDWARD BRAVOT, Case No. 1:21-cv-00681-BAM SR., 12 ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S Plaintiff, NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL 13 AND DENYING MOTION FOR RELIEF v. FROM FILING FEE 14 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, (Doc. 10) 15 Defendant. 16 17 18 Plaintiff Christopher Edward Bravot, Sr. (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se 19 and in forma pauperis in the instant action against the Internal Revenue Service. (Doc. 1.) 20 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss this action without prejudice 21 and for relief from the filing fee in this action filed on September 17, 2021. (Doc. 10.) 22 The Court construes the motion to dismiss as a request for voluntary dismissal pursuant to 23 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i). Under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), “a plaintiff has an 24 absolute right to voluntarily dismiss his action prior to service by the defendant of an answer or a 25 motion for summary judgment.” Commercial Space Mgmt. Co., Inc. v. Boeing Co., Inc., 193 26 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir. 1999) (quotation and citation omitted). “[A] dismissal under Rule 27 41(a)(1) is effective on filing, no court order is required, the parties are left as though no action 28 1 had been brought, the defendant can’t complain, and the district court lacks jurisdiction to do 2 anything about it.” Id. at 1078. No defendant has been served in this action and no defendant has 3 filed an answer or motion for summary judgment. 4 Accordingly, this action is terminated by operation of law without further order from the 5 Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i). The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to terminate all 6 pending motions and deadlines, and CLOSE THIS CASE. 7 Insofar as Plaintiff seeks relief from the filing fee in this action, his request will be denied. 8 Earlier in this case, the Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis. (Doc. 9.) 9 It was explained to Plaintiff that he was obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for 10 this action, in monthly payments of twenty percent of the preceding month’s income credited to 11 his trust account. (Id. at 1.) The Director of the California Department of Corrections or his 12 designee was ordered to send to the Clerk of the court payments from Plaintiff’s account each 13 time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00, until the statutory filing fee is paid in full. (Id. 14 (citing 28 U.S. § 1915(b)(2))). The entire $350.00 filing fee is statutorily required, and must be 15 collected from Plaintiff’s institutional account regardless of the outcome of this action and even if 16 Plaintiff elects to dismiss this action. See, e.g., Myers v. Pulido, No. 1:16-cv-00638-SAB-PC, 17 2016 WL 6723937, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 14, 2016). As a result, Plaintiff’s motion to be relieved 18 of the obligation to pay this fee is DENIED. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 21 Dated: September 21, 2021 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28