Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-01266/USCOURTS-ca10-90-01266-0/pdf.json

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

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' 

FILED 

Unltod Stat,s C.ourt of Appenb 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tent., Circuit 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

JOSEPH BOTA ZEKANY, ) 

) 

Plaintiff-Appellant, ) 

) 

v. ) 

) 

HENRY SOLANO; COLORADO DEPARTMENT ) 

OF CORRECTIONS, ) 

) 

Defendants-Appellees. ) 

OCT 2 1 1991 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

No. 90-1266 

(D.C. No. 90-M-781) 

(District of Colorado) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before McKAY, · Chief Judge, SEYMOUR and EBEL, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Mr. Joseph Zekany filed a civil rights complaint under 42 

u.s.c. S 1983 alleging that his confinement by the State of 

Colorado violates various of his constitutional rights. 

Specifically, Mr. Zekany complains that he was confined for a 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-1266 Document: 010110091390 Date Filed: 10/21/1991 Page: 1 
prolonged period in the diagnostic unit, where he was denied 

access to various privileges. 

Mr. Zekany's complaint makes verbatim the same claims raised 

in an earlier case heard by this court, Ruark v. Solano, 928 F.2d 

947 (10th Cir. 1991). We decided the merits of all the claims 

raised by Mr. Zekany in that prior case. Thus, under Ruark, none 

of the claims raised by Mr. Zekany has merit, except the claim 

that Mr. Zekany has been denied access to a law library. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Zekany failed to name the proper defendant 

for his claim of denial of access to the law library. The legal 

assistant, Annette Porter, against whom Mr. Ruark successfully 

stated a claim in the previous action, was not named in the 

caption of this complaint nor in the jurisdictional statement 

regarding defendants. Her name does appear in the body of the 

complaint. However, because she was not properly named as a 

defendant, Ms. Porter was never served; and the court has never 

asserted jurisdiction over her. Even our liberal construction of 

prose pleadings cannot overcome a jurisdictional defect such as 

this. 

Thus, we AFFIRM the dismissal of this action. The mandate 

shall issue forthwith. 

-2-

Entered for the Court 

Monroe G. McKay 

Chief Judge 

Appellate Case: 90-1266 Document: 010110091390 Date Filed: 10/21/1991 Page: 2