Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00319/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00319-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983pr Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

EXOTICAR INTERNATIONAL AUTO 

SALES, LLC; ROBERT LEE 

CHILDRESS,

Booking #25851-039,

Plaintiff,

vs.

KRAIG PALMER.

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:19-CV-0319-CAB-BLM

ORDER:

1) GRANTING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

[ECF No. 2]

AND

2) DISMISSING PLAINTIFF 

EXOTICAR INTERNATIONAL 

AUTO SALES, LLC

Robert Lee Childress (“Plaintiff”), a pretrial detainee currently housed at the Otay 

Mesa Detention Center, located in San Diego, California has brought a civil rights action 

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, along with Plaintiff “Exoticar International Auto Sales, 

LLC.” (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff Childress has also filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma 

Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (ECF No. 2). 

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A. Plaintiff’s IFP Motion

All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 

United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 

$400.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 

prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. 

Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, a prisoner who is granted leave to 

proceed IFP remains obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” 

Bruce v. Samuels, __ S. Ct. __, 136 S. Ct. 627, 629 (U.S. 2016); Williams v. Paramo, 

775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), and regardless of whether his action is ultimately 

dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th 

Cir. 2002).

Section 1915(a)(2) requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a 

“certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 

6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified 

trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average 

monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly 

balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner 

has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having 

custody of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the 

preceding month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards 

those payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).

 

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 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 

fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court 

Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2014). The additional $50 administrative fee does 

not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. Id.

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In support of his IFP Motion, Plaintiff Childress has submitted a certified copy of 

his inmate trust account statement pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and S.D. CAL.

CIVLR 3.2. His trust account statement indicates he has insufficient funds from which to 

pay a partial initial filing fee at this time. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) (providing that 

“[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil action or appealing a 

civil action or criminal judgment for the reason that the prisoner has no assets and no 

means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.”); Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 630; Taylor, 

281 F.3d at 850 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) acts as a “safety-valve” preventing 

dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based solely on a “failure to pay . . . due to the lack of 

funds available to him when payment is ordered.”). 

Therefore, the Court grants Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP and directs the Warden 

for the Otay Mesa Detention Center to collect the entire $350 balance of the filing fees 

required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914 and forward them to the Clerk of the Court pursuant to the 

installment payment provisions set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). See id.

B. Representation of other parties

Plaintiff purports to bring this action on behalf of Plaintiff Exoticar International 

Auto Sales, LLC. However, because Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, he has no authority to 

represent the legal interest of any other party. See Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 

1105 n.1 (9th Cir. 1995); C.E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697 (9th 

Cir. 1987); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(a) (“Every pleading, written motion, and other paper 

shall be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s original name, or if the 

party is not represented by an attorney, shall be signed by the party.”). Therefore, 

Plaintiff Exoticar International Auto Sales, LLC is DISMISSED from this action. 

C. Conclusion and Order

Good cause appearing, the Court: 

1. GRANTS Plaintiff Childress’s Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a) (ECF No. 2).

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2. DIRECTS the Warden for the Otay Mesa Detention Center, or their

designee, to collect from Plaintiff’s prison trust account the $350 filing fee 

owed in this case by garnishing monthly payments from his account in an 

amount equal to twenty percent (20%) of the preceding month’s income and 

forwarding those payments to the Clerk of the Court each time the amount in 

the account exceeds $10 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). ALL 

PAYMENTS SHALL BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED BY THE NAME AND 

NUMBER ASSIGNED TO THIS ACTION.

3. DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to serve a copy of this Order on Warden, 

Otay Mesa Detention Center, P.O. Box 439049, San Diego, California 

92143-9049.

4. DISMISSES Plaintiff Exoticar International Auto Sales, LLC from this 

action and directs the Clerk of Court to terminate this party from the Court’s 

docket.

5. The Court will issue a separate order sua sponte screening Plaintiff’s 

Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A(b).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 10, 2019

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