1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 WESTERN DIVISION 11 LONNIE MO'NIQUE WILLIAMS- ) Case No. 2:20-cv-03607-PSG (JDE) ) 12 TURNER, ) Plaintiff, ) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE 13 ) DISMISSAL FOR FAILURE TO v. ) 14 ) TIMELY SERVE PROCESS SYLMAR JUVENILE HALL and ) ) 15 MORGAN (Staff) ) 16 Defendants. ) ) 17 18 On June 22, 2020, the Court issued an order: (1) finding the First 19 Amended Complaint (Dkt. 10, “FAC”) filed by Plaintiff Lonnie Mo’nique 20 Williams-Turner (“Plaintiff”) on June 8, 2020, construed liberally, passed the 21 minimal requirements for screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) as to the 22 claim asserted against defendant K. Morgan (“Defendant”), the sole defendant 23 named in the FAC, in his individual capacity only; (2) directing the Clerk of 24 Court to prepare a Summons on the FAC directed to Defendant; (3) directing 25 Plaintiff to provide sufficient information about Defendant to permit the 26 United States Marshal (“USM”) to serve Defendant; and (4) directing the 27 USM to attempt such service based on the information provided by Plaintiff. 28 Dkt. 12 (“Order”); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3) (regarding service by USM 1 for plaintiffs proceeding in forma pauperis). In the Order, the Court advised 2 Plaintiff: 3 [I]t is Plaintiff’s responsibility to provide sufficient information 4 for the United States Marshal Service to locate and effect service 5 upon any defendant. If Plaintiff does not provide sufficient 6 information, service may not be completed. Ultimately, it is 7 Plaintiff’s responsibility to ensure timely service any and all 8 defendants and a failure to complete service in a timely manner 9 may result in a dismissal of claims against any defendant not 10 timely served. 11 Id. at 2. On June 22, 2020, the Clerk issued a Summons on the FAC directed 12 to Defendant. See Dkt. 13. On October 5, 2020, the USM filed a Process 13 Receipt and Return advising the USM was unable locate Defendant at the 14 address provided by Plaintiff. Dkt. 15 (“Return”). 15 Service of process under Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16 requires service of “both the summons and the complaint . . . within the time 17 allowed by Rule 4(m)” to effect proper service. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(1). 18 Rule 4(m) provides that if a defendant “is not served within 90 days after the 19 complaint is filed, the court – on motion or on its own after notice to the 20 plaintiff – must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or 21 order that service be made within a specified time.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). 22 However, if a plaintiff shows good cause for the failure to serve, the court must 23 extend the time for service for an appropriate period. Id. The burden of 24 establishing good cause is on the plaintiff. Tucker v. City of Santa Monica, 25

at *2 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2013)). The “good cause” exception 26 to Rule 4(m) applies “only in limited circumstances” and is not satisfied by 27 “inadvertent error or ignorance of the governing rules.”

(citations and 28 1 || quotations omitted); see also Townsel v. County of Contra Costa,

11319, 320-21 (9th Cir. 1987) Ggnorance of Rule 4 is not good cause for 3 ||}untimely service)). Unless service is waived, proofs of service must be provided 4 ||to the Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(1). 5 Here, using the date the Clerk issued the Summons as to Defendant as 6 || the operative starting date, that is, June 22, 2020, Plaintiff had 90 days, that is, 7 ||; until September 21, 2020, to effect service upon Defendant. No proof of service 8 || has been filed reflecting such service, and the USM has advised, by the Return, 9 || that service could not be effected upon Defendant based on the information 10 || provided by Plaintiff. 11 As more than 90 days have passed and no proof of service has been filed 12 ||reflecting proper service of the Summons and FAC upon Defendant under 13 || Rule 4, Plaintiff is ORDERED to show good cause in writing within 30 days 14 from the date of this Order why this action should not be dismissed pursuant to 15 || Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to timely serve 16 || process upon Defendant. The Court will, sua sponte, provide Plaintiff until 30 17 || days from the date of this order to effect such proper service upon Defendant 18 Plaintiff may comply with this order by filing proper proof of such service 19 || within 30 days from the date of this order. 20 Plaintiff is advised that a failure to file a compliant response within 30 21 || days from the date of this Order may result in a dismissal of this action for 22 || failure to prosecute, failure to timely serve process, and failure to comply with 23 || Court orders. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: October 07, 2020 if 7 : 7 26 27 N D. EARLY 28 nited States Magistrate Judge