Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-00419/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-00419-7/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Albert Billinger
Plaintiff
Church
Defendant

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

ALBERT BILLINGER, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

CHURCH, 

Defendant. 

No. 2:15-cv-0419 AC P 

ORDER 

 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. By 

order filed January 5, 2016, the court screened plaintiff’s complaint and dismissed it with leave to 

amend. ECF No. 18. Plaintiff then requested appointment of counsel, claiming that he had no 

legal education and had already done everything he knew how to in order to state a claim. ECF 

No. 22. The motion was denied because plaintiff did not show that he had tried to follow the 

court’s instructions and was unable to. ECF No. 23. Plaintiff was again given instructions on the 

type of information he needed to provide to state a claim and was also directed to the instructions 

in the court’s previous order. Id. He was given until March 9, 2016, to file an amended 

complaint. Id. 

On February 2, 2016, plaintiff filed a statement in which he appeared to summarize his 

claims against defendant Church. The document stated that its purpose was to provide 

information and that it was a “response to document (petition) of the court request.” ECF No. 24 

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at 1. It was not clear whether plaintiff was attempting to supplement the original complaint or if 

the document was intended as his amended complaint. Because the document was not in the 

proper form, did not identify itself as an amended complaint, or comply with the court’s 

instructions for an amended complaint, it was not considered as an amended complaint and 

plaintiff was reminded that he had until March 9, 2016, to file his first amended complaint. ECF 

No. 25. The Clerk of the Court was also instructed to send plaintiff a copy of the prisoner 

complaint form used in this district. Id. Plaintiff has not filed anything further with the court. 

Plaintiff will be given a final opportunity to submit a first amended complaint. He is 

reminded that if he wants to state a claim against Dr. Church, he must explain how Dr. Church is 

responsible for his injury. In other words, plaintiff must tell the court what Dr. Church did and 

how that caused plaintiff to be injured. Plaintiff should look at the instructions in the court’s 

previous orders when writing his amended complaint. The amended complaint must (1) be on the 

form provided by the court; (2) be labeled “First Amended Complaint;” (3) list each person that 

plaintiff wants to bring a claim against; (4) explain what injury each defendant caused and how 

they caused it; and (5) not rely on previously filed documents to state a claim. The last 

requirement means that plaintiff should prepare his First Amended Complaint as if the court had 

never seen a previous complaint in this case, and as if plaintiff were telling the court about his 

claims for the first time. The Clerk of the Court will be directed to send plaintiff another copy of 

the prisoner complaint form to write his complaint on. If plaintiff does not file an amended 

complaint, this case will be dismissed. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

1. Plaintiff shall have thirty days from service of this complaint to file a first amended 

complaint. 

2. The amended complaint must (1) be on the form provided by the court; (2) be labeled 

“First Amended Complaint;” (3) list each person that plaintiff wants to bring a claim against; (4) 

explain what injury each defendant caused and how they caused it; and (5) not rely on previously 

filed documents to state a claim. 

3. Failure to comply with this order will result in this case being dismissed. 

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4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff a copy of the prisoner complaint 

form used in this district. 

DATED: April 6, 2016 

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