UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

D’ANDRE ALEXANDER,

Plaintiff, No. 15-10294

vs. District Judge David M. Lawson

ANN HOFFMAN, SHANNON FLAUGHER, Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen

EDWARD NEITZEL, JERMAR ROZIER,

WILLIAM PUTNAM, SCOTT WALTHER,

RUSSELL VITTITOW, DARREL BARROWS,

DONALD RICUMSTRICT, O’BELL THOMAS

WINN, SCOTTY FREED, JAMES ZUMMER, 

THOMAS FINCO, EDWARD PAINE, LLOYD

RAPELJE, BOBBY KARL, DELANDON THOMAS,

JEFF STOLTENBERG, CHARLES TURNER, 

CORRECTIONS OFFICER VANSURMAN, and

ROBERT NORTON,

Defendants.

 /

ORDER

On January 23, 2015, Plaintiff D’Andre Alexander, a prison inmate in the custody

of the Michigan Department of Corrections (“MDOC”) filed a pro se civil complaint

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, naming as Defendants 21 MDOC employees. The Defendants

filed a motion to sever based on misjoinder of parties and claims [Doc. #39]. 

On April 5, 2016, Plaintiff D’Andre Alexander’s motion to voluntarily dismiss his

case was docketed [Doc. #65]. The caption of the motion indicated the correct docket

number of this case, the correct lead Defendant (Ann Hoffman), and the correct judicial

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officers. In his motion to voluntarily dismiss, Mr. Alexander states that he “had difficulty

ascertaining certain issues with his own complaint,” and that he “wants to simplify the

issues by breaking down the case into different lawsuits.” He states that he “wants the

court and defendants’ attorney to be able to easily interpret [the] case as much as possible,

and himself.” The motion itself is dated March 30, 2016. 

On March 31, 2016, the Court entered an Opinion and Order denying Defendants’

motion to sever [Doc. #63]. Mr. Alexander would not have received this Opinion and

Order at the time he filed his motion to voluntarily dismiss. On April 11, 2016, Mr.

Alexander filed a motion to strike his previously filed motion to voluntarily dismiss [Doc.

#69]. His motion is dated April 5, 2016; he presumptively would have received the

Court’s March 31st order denying severance by that time. In his motion to strike, Mr.

Alexander states, “After reviewing my file, I have noticed that I sent the motion to

voluntarily dismiss this case to this court instead on the Western District court. I have a

case pending in the wester district in which had similar circumstances and sent it to this

court by mistake.” He then sent the Court a letter, docketed on April 19, 2016, reiterating

that he mistakenly sent the motion to voluntarily dismiss to this Court rather than to the

Western District of Michigan [Doc. #71].

So that the Court may properly assess Mr. Alexander’s motion to strike [Doc. #69],

it is necessary for him to provide more complete information regarding the Western

District case that he now claims was the intended object of his motion to voluntarily

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dismiss.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that within 14 days of the date of this Order, Mr.

Alexander must provide this Court with the following information:

1. The complete case name and docket number of the case that he refers to as

having been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

2. A copy of the complaint that he filed in the Western District of Michigan.

3. A copy of any motion to voluntarily dismiss filed in the Western District of

Michigan case.

4. The name of the attorney(s) representing the defendants in the Western District

of Michigan case.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Mr. Alexander will serve the above information,

by first-class mail, on counsel for the Defendants in the present case, and will file a proof

of service with this Court.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no later than 21 days after Mr. Alexander has

served the above information, the Defendants in this case may file a response to Mr.

Alexander’s motion to strike his motion to dismiss.

s/R. Steven Whalen 

R. STEVEN WHALEN

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Date: May 11, 2016

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was sent to parties of record on

May 11, 2016, electronically and/or by U.S. mail.

s/Carolyn M. Ciesla 

Case Manager to the 

Honorable R. Steven Whalen

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