EUANSITTEERDN S DTAISTTERSI CDTIS OTFR WICITS CCOONUSRITN

DENNIS LEE HOHOL,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 25-cv-0529-bhl

GILBERT D. STEFFANIDES et al.,

Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Dennis Lee Hohol, who is currently serving a state prison sentence at the Redgranite Correctional Institution and representing himself, filed a complaint under

, alleging that his civil rights were violated. On July 8, 2025, the Court screened Hohol’s amended complaint and allowed him to proceed on an Eighth Amendment medical care claim against Dr. Gilbert Steffanides and the unidentified members of the Special Needs Committee. Hohol also stated a claim against the unidentified provider who allegedly delayed ordering and/or administering injections to address Hohol’s knee pain. See Dkt. No. 8 at 4. On August 20, 2025, the Court named Warden Michael Gierach as a Defendant for the limited purpose of helping Hohol identify the John/Jane Doe Defendants. See Donald v. Cook Cty. Sheriff’s Dep’t,

(7th Cir. 1996). On September 10, 2025, the Court ordered Hohol to identify the names of the Doe Defendants by November 10, 2025. Dkt. No. 23. On November 3, 2025, about a week before the deadline, Hohol filed a letter informing the Court that Warden Gierach did not respond to his discovery requests concerning the names of the Doe Defendants. Dkt. No. 26. It is possible that Hohol did not properly serve his discovery requests. In his letter, Hohol Hohol mailed his discovery requests directly to Warden Gierach rather than mailing them to Warden Gierach’s lawyer, as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b). Warden Gierarch was under no obligation to respond to discovery requests that Hohol did not properly serve. The Court will extend the deadline by which Hohol must identify the Doe Defendants to December 19, 2025. If Hohol did not properly serve his discovery requests—in other words, if he previously mailed the requests directly to Warden Gierach—he must properly serve them by mailing them to Warden Gierach’s lawyer at: Wisconsin Department of Justice, Attn: Assistant Attorney General Ashley Fard, PO Box 7857, Madison, Wisconsin, 53707-7857. The Court will require Warden Gierach to respond to properly served discovery requests within thirty days of service, as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 and 34. The Court encourages Warden Gierach to

respond to the requests (or simply inform Hohol of the Doe Defendants’ names) as promptly as possible to avoid further delay. After Hohol learns the names of the Doe Defendants, he must file a motion to identify the Doe Defendants. The Court will dismiss Warden Gierach as a Defendant once the Doe Defendants are identified. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Hohol must inform the Court of the Doe Defendants’ names by December 19, 2025. If Hohol does not do so or does not advise the Court in writing why he is unable to do so, the Court may dismiss Hohol’s claims against the Doe Defendants based on his failure to comply with the Court’s order and his failure to diligently prosecute those claims.

Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 5, 2025. s/ Brett H. Ludwig BRETT H. LUDWIG United States District Judge