Williams v. Werlinger

Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing without prejudice plaintiff-prisoner’s lawsuit against defendant-former prison official, where basis of dismissal was U.S. Marshall’s failure to locate and serve defendant with copy of complaint, as well as plaintiff’s own unsuccessful attempt to serve defendant with copy of complaint. Rule 4(c)(3) requires Dist. Ct. to direct Marshall to serve defendant with copy of complaint, where, as here, plaintiff was authorized to proceed in forma pauperis, and instant two-day unsuccessful effort by Marshall to locate defendant was insufficient for Dist. Ct. to allow Marshall to abandon search, where there was no indication that Marshall had checked Bureau of Prisons’ records for applicable address for defendant.