Carmona v. Mohave County Sheriff's Office et al

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MDR
WO
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
Kevin Carmona,
Plaintiff,
v.
Mojave County Sheriff Office, et al.,
Defendants.
No. CV-26-08000-PCT-JAT (CDB)
ORDER
Self-represented Plaintiff Kevin Carmona, who is confined in the Mohave County
Jail, filed a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a Motion to Proceed In
Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2), and an Emergency Motion for Immediate Release on Own
Recognizance (Doc. 3). The Court will deny the deficient Motion to Proceed, give Plaintiff
30 days to either pay the filing and administrative fees or file a complete Application to
Proceed In Forma Pauperis, and deny the Emergency Motion.
I. Payment of Filing Fee
When bringing an action, a prisoner must either pay the $350.00 filing fee and a
$55.00 administrative fee in a lump sum or, if granted the privilege of proceeding in forma
pauperis, pay the $350.00 filing fee incrementally as set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).
An application to proceed in forma pauperis requires an affidavit of indigence and a
certified copy of the inmate’s trust account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the
six months preceding the filing of the Complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). An inmate must
submit statements from each institution where he was confined during the six-month
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period. Id. To assist prisoners in meeting these requirements, the Court requires use of a
form application. LRCiv 3.4.
If a prisoner is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court will assess an
initial partial filing fee of 20% of either the average monthly deposits or the average
monthly balance in Plaintiff’s account, whichever is greater. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). An
initial partial filing fee will only be collected when funds exist. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4).
The balance of the $350.00 filing fee will be collected in monthly payments of 20% of the
preceding month’s income credited to an inmate’s account, each time the amount in the
account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).
II. Motion to Proceed Fails to Comply With Statute
Plaintiff has not used the court-approved form. Plaintiff, therefore, has not
answered the questions on pages one and two of the court-approved form, completed the
“Acknowledgement of Collection of Filing Fees from Trust Account” section of the form,
gotten the “Certificate of Correctional Official as to Status of Applicant’s Trust Account”
section completed, or submitted a certified six-month trust account statement, as required.
In light of these deficiencies, the Court will deny the Motion to Proceed and will give
Plaintiff 30 days to either pay the $405.00 filing and administrative fees or file a complete
Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.
III. Emergency Motion for Immediate Release
Plaintiff seeks immediate release and “access to counsel and legal materials.” To
obtain preliminary injunctive relief, the moving party must show “that he is likely to
succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of
preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in
the public interest.” Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008). The
moving party has the burden of proof on each element of the test. Envtl. Council of
Sacramento v. Slater, 184 F. Supp. 2d 1016, 1027 (E.D. Cal. 2000). Because Plaintiff has
failed to address the elements of the test, he has failed to meet his burden of proof for a
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preliminary injunction. Therefore, the Court will deny without prejudice Plaintiff’s
Emergency Motion.1
IV. Warnings
A. Address Changes
Plaintiff must file and serve a notice of a change of address in accordance with Rule
83.3(d) of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff must not include a motion for other
relief with a notice of change of address. Failure to comply may result in dismissal of this
action.
B. Possible Dismissal
If Plaintiff fails to timely comply with every provision of this Order, including these
warnings, the Court may dismiss this action without further notice. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet,
963 F.2d 1258, 1260-61 (9th Cir. 1992) (a district court may dismiss an action for failure
to comply with any order of the Court).
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
1 In addition, the Court cannot order Plaintiff’s release in an action pursuant to
§ 1983; habeas proceedings are the proper mechanism for a prisoner seeking to challenge
the legality or duration of his confinement. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 488-
90 (1973) (if a prisoner seeks relief that would result in immediate or speedier release, his
exclusive remedy is a petition for habeas corpus).
Section 2241, 28 U.S.C., provides an avenue for habeas corpus relief for a pretrial
detainee in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws and treaties of the United States.
“As an exercise of judicial restraint, however, federal courts elect not to entertain habeas
corpus challenges to state court proceedings until habeas petitioners have exhausted state
avenues for raising [a] federal claim.” Carden v. Montana, 626 F.2d 82, 83 (9th Cir. 1980).
Moreover, the abstention doctrine set forth in Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S.
37 (1971), prevents a federal court in most circumstances from directly interfering with
ongoing criminal proceedings in state court. Absent special circumstances, such as
“proven harassment or prosecutions undertaken by state officials in bad faith without hope
of obtaining a valid conviction and perhaps in other extraordinary circumstances where
irreparable injury can be shown,” a federal court will not entertain a pretrial habeas corpus
petition. Carden, 626 F.2d at 84 (quoting Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 82, 85 (1971)).
“[O]nly in the most unusual circumstances is a defendant entitled to have federal
interposition by way of injunction or habeas corpus until after the jury comes in, judgment
has been appealed from and the case concluded in the state courts.” Id. at 83-84 (quoting
Drury v. Cox, 457 F.2d 764, 764-65 (9th Cir. 1972)).
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IT IS ORDERED:
(1) Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for Immediate Release (Doc. 3) is denied
without prejudice.
(2) Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2) is denied without
prejudice.
(3) Within 30 days of the date this Order is filed, Plaintiff must either pay the
$350.00 filing fee and $55.00 administrative fee or file a complete Application to Proceed
In Forma Pauperis and a certified six-month trust account statement (or institutional
equivalent).
(4) If Plaintiff fails to either pay the $350.00 filing fee and $55.00 administrative
fee or file a complete Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis within 30 days, the Clerk
of Court must enter a judgment of dismissal of this action without prejudice and without
further notice to Plaintiff and deny any pending unrelated motions as moot.
(5) The Clerk of Court must mail Plaintiff a court-approved form for filing an
Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Non-Habeas).
Dated this 8th day of January, 2026.
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Revised 12/1/23
Instructions for Prisoners Applying for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 in a Civil Action (Non-habeas) in Federal Court
You must pay the $350.00 filing fee plus the $55.00 administrative fees for a civil action. 	If you
later file an appeal, you will be obligated to pay the $505.00 filing fee for the appeal.
If you have enough money to pay the full $405.00 filing and administrative fees, you should send
a cashier=s check or money order payable to the Clerk of the Court with your complaint.
If you do not have enough money to pay the full $405.00 filing and administrative fees, you can
file the action without prepaying the fees. 	However, the Court will assess an initial partial filing fee.
The initial partial filing fee will be the greater of 20% of the average monthly deposits or 20% of the
average monthly balance in your prison or jail account for the six months immediately preceding the filing
of the lawsuit. 	The Court will order the agency that has custody of you to withdraw the initial partial
filing fee from your prison or jail account as soon as funds are available and to forward the money to the
Court.
After the initial partial filing fee has been paid, you will owe the balance of the $350.00 filing fee
(you will not be required to pay the $55.00 administrative fee). 	Until the filing fee is paid in full, each
month you will owe 20% of your preceding month’s income. 	The agency that holds you in custody will
collect that money and forward it to the Court any time the amount in your account exceeds $10.00.
These installment fees are calculated on a per-case basis. 	This means that you will be required to pay
20% of your preceding month=s income for each civil non-habeas corpus case in which you have an
outstanding filing fee balance. 	For example, if you are making payments toward filing fee balances in
two civil non-habeas corpus cases, 40% of your preceding month=s income will be collected each month.
The balance of the filing fee may be collected even if the action is later dismissed, summary judgment is
granted against you, or you fail to prevail at trial.
To file an action without prepaying the filing fee, and to proceed with an action in forma pauperis,
you must complete the attached form and return it to the Court with your complaint. 	You must have a
prison or jail official complete the certificate on the bottom of the form and attach a certified copy of your
prison or jail account statement for the last six months. 	If you were incarcerated in a different institution
during any part of the past six months, you must attach a certificate and a certified copy of your account
statement from each institution at which you were confined. 	If you submit an incomplete form or do not
submit a prison or jail account statement with the form, your request to proceed in forma pauperis will be
denied.
Even if some or all of the filing fee has been paid, the Court is required to dismiss your action if:
(1) your allegation of poverty is untrue; (2) the action is frivolous or malicious; (3) your complaint does
not state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (4) your complaint makes a claim against a defendant
for money damages and that defendant is immune from liability for money damages.
If you file more than three actions or appeals which are dismissed as frivolous or malicious or for
failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, you will be prohibited from filing any other action
in forma pauperis unless you are in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
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Revised 12/1/23
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___________________________________________
Name and Prisoner/Booking Number
___________________________________________
Place of Confinement
___________________________________________
Mailing Address
___________________________________________
City, State, Zip Code
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
_____________________________________ ,
Plaintiff,
v.
_____________________________________ ,
Defendant(s).
CASE NO. __________________________________
APPLICATION TO PROCEED
IN FORMA PAUPERIS
BY A PRISONER
CIVIL (NON-HABEAS)
I, 	, declare, in support of my request to proceed in the above
entitled case without prepayment of fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, that I am unable to pay the fees for these
proceedings or to give security therefor and that I believe I am entitled to relief.
In support of this application, I answer the following questions under penalty of perjury:
1. 	Have you ever before brought an action or appeal in a federal court while you were incarcerated or detained?
GYes 	GNo 	If “Yes,” how many have you filed? 	.
Were any of the actions or appeals dismissed because they were frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a
claim upon which relief may be granted? 	GYes 	GNo 	If “Yes,” how many of them? 	.
2. 	Are you currently employed at the institution where you are confined? 	GYes 	GNo
If “Yes,” state the amount of your pay and where you work.
3. 	Do you receive any other payments from the institution where you are confined? 	GYes 	GNo
If “Yes,” state the source and amount of the payments.
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Revised 12/1/23
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4. 	Do you have any other sources of income, savings, or assets either inside or outside of the institution where
you are confined? 	GYes 	GNo
If “Yes,” state the sources and amounts of the income, savings, or assets.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the above information is true and correct.
________________________________ 	____________________________________________
DATE 	SIGNATURE OF APPLICANT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COLLECTION OF FILING FEES FROM TRUST ACCOUNT
I, 	, acknowledge that upon granting this Application, the
Court will order designated correctional officials at this institution, or any other correctional institution to
which I am transferred, to withdraw money from my trust account for payment of the filing fee, as required
by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b).
The Court will require correctional officials to withdraw an initial partial payment equal to 20% of the
greater of:
(A) 	the average monthly deposits to my account for the six-month period preceding my filing of this
action, or
(B) 	the average monthly balance in my account for the six-month period preceding my filing of this
action.
After the initial payment, if the amount in my account is at least $10.00, the Court will require
correctional officials to withdraw from my account 20% of each month’s income and forward it to the Court
until the required filing fee is paid in full. 	I understand that I am required to pay the entire fee, even if my
case is dismissed by the Court before the fee is fully paid.
I further understand that if I file more than one action, correctional officials will be ordered to
withdraw 20% of each month’s income, for each action, simultaneously. 	Accordingly, if I have filed two
actions, correctional officials will withdraw 40% of my income each month; three actions will require 60%
of my income each month, etc.
________________________________ 	____________________________________________
DATE 	SIGNATURE OF APPLICANT
CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONAL OFFICIAL
AS TO STATUS OF APPLICANT=S TRUST ACCOUNT
I, 	, certify that as of the date applicant signed this application:
(Printed name of official)
The applicant=s trust account balance at this institution is: 	$
The applicant=s average monthly deposits during the prior six months is: 	$
The applicant=s average monthly balance during the prior six months is: 	$
The attached certified account statement accurately reflects the status of the applicant=s account.
DATE 	AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE 	TITLE/ID NUMBER 	INSTITUTION
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