Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-00547/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-00547-2/pdf.json

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

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

ALBERT J. HAMILTON, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

URBAN, et al., 

Defendants. 

No. 2:16-cv-0547 AC P 

ORDER 

 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, requests that this civil rights action, filed 

March 15, 2016, be dismissed without prejudice due to “some evidence problems.” ECF No. 13 

at 1. Plaintiff requests that he be permitted to re-file this action in one year. Id. 

 Plaintiff’s request to voluntarily dismiss this action without prejudice will be granted. See 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a). However, it will be plaintiff’s responsibility to timely re-file this action. 

Plaintiff is directed to the following considerations concerning the statute of limitations. 

 “For actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, [federal] courts apply the forum state’s statute of 

limitations for personal injury actions, along with the forum state’s law regarding tolling, 

including equitable tolling, except to the extent any of these laws is inconsistent with federal 

law.” Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918, 927 (9th Cir. 2004). In California, the statute of limitations 

for personal injury actions is two years. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1. This limitations 

period is statutorily tolled for another two years for prisoners serving less than a life sentence, 

Case 2:16-cv-00547-AC Document 14 Filed 06/08/16 Page 1 of 2
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resulting in a total limitations period of four years; however, prisoners serving life sentences are 

not entitled to this statutory tolling. See Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 352.1(a). Finally, “[a]lthough 

state law determines the length of the limitations period, federal law determines when a civil 

rights claim accrues,” Azer v. Connell, 306 F.3d 930, 936 (9th Cir. 2002) (citation and internal 

quotation marks omitted), and hence when the statute of limitations begins to run. “Under federal 

law, a claim accrues when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the injury which is the 

basis of the action.” TwoRivers v. Lewis, 174 F.3d 987, 991 (9th Cir. 1999). 

 Accordingly, as requested by plaintiff, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is 

dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a). 

DATED: June 7, 2016 

Case 2:16-cv-00547-AC Document 14 Filed 06/08/16 Page 2 of 2