David C. Lettieri v. TD Bank

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey addresses motions arising from David C. Lettieri’s conversion claim against TD Bank concerning funds allegedly belonging to his deceased grandfather. The court denies without prejudice TD Bank’s motion to dismiss insofar as it relies on disputed materials outside the pleadings, converts the motion to one for summary judgment, and authorizes limited discovery. The court also denies Plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion as premature and unsupported and administratively terminates his motion to amend.

Holdings

1. Because defendant relied on materials outside the pleadings that the court found it necessary to consider, the court converted defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion into a motion for summary judgment under Rule 12(d), after providing notice and ordering limited discovery.
2. The court denied defendant's request to revoke plaintiff's IFP status under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) without prejudice because the record did not establish whether the identified dismissals qualified as strikes or whether plaintiff had already paid the filing fee.
3. Plaintiff was not entitled to summary judgment because discovery had not begun and his motion was supported only by unverified allegations rather than evidence.
4. The court administratively terminated plaintiff's motion to amend pending resolution of defendant's forthcoming summary-judgment motion and further order, without ruling on the merits of amendment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendant's motion to dismiss should be denied or converted to a motion for summary judgment because defendant relied on materials outside the pleadings.
2. Whether plaintiff's in forma pauperis status should be revoked under the Prison Litigation Reform Act's three-strikes provision.
3. Whether plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment before discovery and without evidentiary support.
4. Whether plaintiff's motion to amend should be resolved before the court ruled on defendant's forthcoming summary-judgment motion.

Disposition

other