DONNA F. MARTINEZ, Magistrate Judge.
The plaintiff, Marvin Owens, who is self-represented, filed this civil rights action asserting a variety of claims against numerous defendants. (Doc. #1.) After a review of the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e), I issued a recommended ruling recommending the dismissal of all defendants and claims with the exception of two claims against defendant Fitzgerald: (1) a § 1983 claim for unlawful seizure of the plaintiff's motorcycle and (2) a state law claim of defamation. (Doc. #8.) In January 2018, Judge Chatigny approved and adopted the recommended ruling. Pending before the court is the plaintiff's motion for leave to file an amended complaint.
The plaintiff now seeks to assert new causes of action and name 17 additional defendants. The plaintiff wants to add as defendants: "the United States of America, State of Connecticut Agencies, Officers or employees;" Officer Jorge Cintron; Officer A. Perez; John Doe 1; John Doe 2; John Doe 3; Officer Beplio; Officer L. Perillo; Animal Control Officer S. Lougal; Sergeant Nikola; Sheriff Marettie; the State of Connecticut Department of Correction; Internal Affairs Officer E. Rivera; Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim; Jane Doe; City of Bridgeport; and the Bridgeport Police Department. The proposed claims arise out of numerous and varied incidents including: a September 2015 attempted murder/carjacking; a November 2015 incident in which an officer entered his home while he was sleeping and placed a 911 call falsely reporting that the plaintiff had a firearm; a November 2016 incident involving the plaintiff's eviction; being misidentified as a "Tony Blackman," a registered sex offender; an August 2016 entry into the plaintiff's home by an Animal Control Officer to remove the plaintiff's puppy; "targeting" and "harassment" claims directed at Bridgeport Police; and failure to protect and intervene claims directed at the Bridgeport Police Department, City of Bridgeport, the State of Connecticut and the United States.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2) provides that leave to amend "should [be] freely give[n] . . . when justice so requires." "[L]eave to amend, though liberally granted, may properly be denied for: `undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.'"
Where, as in this case, a party seeks to amend a complaint to add more defendants, "a court must also consider Rule 20(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."
"Leave to amend a complaint is properly denied when allegations asserted in the proposed amended complaint do not relate to claims asserted in the original complaint."
As indicated, the operative complaint asserts claims against defendant Fitzgerald concerning seizure of a motorcycle and defamation. The plaintiff's proposed amended complaint fails to comply with the requirements of Rule 20(a)(2). The claims he seeks to add do not arise from the same occurrences and do not share common questions of law or fact. "As the claims do not need to be resolved in one lawsuit, they are improperly joined."
For these reasons, the plaintiff's motion for leave to amend (doc. #21) is denied without prejudice.
This is not a recommended ruling. This is an order regarding discovery and case management which is reviewable pursuant to the "clearly erroneous" statutory standard of review.
Any party may seek the district court's review of this recommendation. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, the parties shall have fourteen (14) days from service of this report to serve and file written objections.
SO ORDERED.