Matthew Todd Griffith v. AZ's Finest Towing LLC, et al.

Summary

The District of Arizona adopts a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation and denies Plaintiff Matthew Todd Griffith’s second motion for default judgment against Alex Phillips and AZ’s Finest Towing, LLC. The court sets aside the prior defaults, permits service of the First Amended Complaint by April 3, 2026, and warns that the action will be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) if service is not completed or good cause is not shown.

Holdings

1. Default judgment based on the original complaint was improper because the First Amended Complaint superseded the original complaint and asserted new, intertwined allegations.
2. Default judgment was properly denied, and the prior defaults were properly set aside, because Plaintiff had not properly served the First Amended Complaint and the Defendants therefore had no opportunity to respond to it.

Questions Presented

1. Whether default judgment could be entered against Defendants based on defaults entered before Plaintiff filed and served a First Amended Complaint.
2. Whether the prior defaults should be set aside because the First Amended Complaint superseded the original complaint and had not been properly served.

Disposition

other