William McKinley Christian v. Michael Samberg, Warden Virginia State Parole Board, 806 F.2d 257, 4th Cir. (1986)
Uploaded by
Scribd Government DocsWilliam McKinley Christian v. Michael Samberg, Warden Virginia State Parole Board, 806 F.2d 257, 4th Cir. (1986)
Uploaded by
Scribd Government Docs806 F.
2d 257
Unpublished Disposition
NOTICE: Fourth Circuit I.O.P. 36.6 states that citation of
unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing
res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires
service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth
Circuit.
William McKinley CHRISTIAN, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Michael SAMBERG, Warden; Virginia State Parole Board,
Defendant-Appellees.
No. 86-6688.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted Sept. 16, 1986.
Decided Nov. 26, 1986.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Virginia, at Richmond. Robert R. Merhige, Jr., District Judge. (C/A No.
86-484-R)
William McKinley Christian, appellant pro se.
E.D.Va.
DISMISSED.
Before WILKINSON, SPROUSE and ERVIN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
William Christian appeals the denial of his motion for leave to proceed in
forma pauperis. The district court denied Christian's motion because he had
neither paid the partial filing fee assessed to him nor given an explanation of
why he had recently depleted his prison account which was adequate to excuse
payment.
When Christian submitted his complaint on February 6, 1986, he listed his
assets as $.66 in his prison account. Actually, a deposit made on February 5
gave him a balance of $63.48. On February 14, apparently just before filing his
declaration in support of request to proceed in forma pauperis, (which was
received by the district court on February 18), Christian made another
expenditure which reduced his balance to $.48. Because the deposits to his
account in the previous six months had totaled $377.17, the district court
properly assessed Christian a partial filing fee of 15% of that amount. Evans v.
Croom, 650 F.2d 521 (4th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1153 (1982).
As required by Croom, Christian was notified at the time of assessment and
thereafter reminded several times by the court that he had the right to submit an
explanation of his expenditures or of special circumstances which would justify
excusing him from payment of the filing fee. His response was to say that he
had spent the money on clothing, a television set and other personal items.
Croom permits dismissal of petition where it reasonably appears that the
petitioner has emptied his prison account in order to avoid paying the filing fee.
The district court complied with the notice requirements of Croom, and the
record amply supports its decision to deny Christian's motion for leave to
proceed in forma pauperis. We therefore deny leave to proceed in forma
pauperis on appeal and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument
because the dispositive issues recently have been decided authoritatively.
DISMISSED.
