Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_18-cv-03639/USCOURTS-cand-4_18-cv-03639-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 362
Nature of Suit: Medical Malpractice
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Personal Injury

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

THOMAS HEATON SPITTERS,

Plaintiff,

v.

PSYNERGY, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 18-cv-03639-PJH 

ORDER DENYING IFP APPLICATION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Re: Dkt. Nos. 12, 13

On June 18, 2018, plaintiff Thomas Spitters made a filing that opened this civil 

action. Dkt. 1. On the same day, plaintiff filed an application to proceed in forma 

pauperis (“IFP”), which would allow him to proceed with this action without prepaying fees 

or costs. Dkt. 2. A plaintiff seeking to proceed in forma pauperis “must allege poverty 

with some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 

1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted). Plaintiff’s application did 

not provide sufficient information to grant the application. For example, he wrote that his 

income and saved cash were “de minimus.” Dkt. 2 at 1–2. His other descriptions were

similarly vague, including that he had “some” personal property and that “[v]arious 

immediate and extended family, and their associated parties and individuals” depended

on him for support. Dkt. 2 at 2.

On September 10, 2018 this court denied plaintiff’s IFP application and adopted 

the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation to dismiss the complaint with leave 

to amend. Dkt. 8. Plaintiff was given a deadline of October 5, 2018 to file an amended 

IFP application and complaint. Plaintiff has not filed an amended IFP application, nor has 

Case 4:18-cv-03639-PJH Document 15 Filed 01/09/19 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

he paid the filing fee. Rather, he has included in two separate filings statements 

indicating that he would prefer not to disclose his financial condition to the court. Dkt. 12 

at 1 (“plaintiff . . . wishes his pauperized financial condition to remain . . . confidential, and 

secret”); Dkt. 13 at 5 (“plaintiff again states his overall desire and right to have his 

pauperized finances remain private and confidential; and honorably and humbly demands 

again before the court that defendants in these cases pay all court fees and costs and 

expenditures of said cases, including court and clerk fees . . . . These demands have 

been stated previously and repeatedly, and the court has chosen not to address them, 

ignored them in fact.”).

Plaintiff need not disclose his financial condition to proceed with this action. 

Plaintiff has two options if he wishes to litigate this case. He must either (1) file a new, 

complete IFP application disclosing all requested information (the required application is 

attached to this order)1; or (2) pay the entire filing fee of $400.00 and serve the summons 

and complaint (and any amendments and attachments), as well as scheduling orders and 

other documents specified by the Clerk, pursuant to Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure. Spitters must complete one of those two options by February 15, 2019, or 

the complaint will remain dismissed without prejudice and this action will be closed.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 9, 2019

__________________________________

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON

United States District Judge

 

1 The application is also available on the district’s website: 

https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/civilforms. The direct link to the application is 

https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/filelibrary/15/Application%20to%20Proceed%20In%20For

ma%20Pauperisnon-prisoner.pdf (PDF format) or 

https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/filelibrary/763/Application-to-Proceed-In-Forma-Pauperisnon-.docx (MS Word format).

Case 4:18-cv-03639-PJH Document 15 Filed 01/09/19 Page 2 of 2