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govinfo:USCOURTS-moed-4_26-cv-00620-0

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri · 2026-06-05

· GavelSight synced 2026-09-06 03:52:36

-UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI 
EASTERN DIVISION 
 
 
DIONDRAE L. JOHNSON,  
  
 Plaintiff,  
  
v. Case No. 4:26-cv-00620-MAL 
  
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, 
MISSOURI et al., 
 
  
 Defendant.  
  
 
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER 
 Before the Court is Plaintiff Di ondrae L. Johnson’s Motion for 
Leave to File Amended Complaint Doc. 13.  Defendant St. Louis County 
did not file a memorandum in opposi tion, and the time to do so has 
passed.  The Motion is GRANTED for the following reasons.  
After a party amends its pleading once as a matter of course, “a 
party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written 
consent or the court’s leave.”  Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2).  Johnson requests 
the Court’s leave here, which “[t]he court should freely give . . . when 
justice so requires.”  Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2).  Leave “should normally be 
granted absent good reason for denial .  The classic ‘good reasons’ for 
rejecting an amendment are: ‘undue de lay, bad faith or dilatory motive, 
repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, 
Case: 4:26-cv-00620-MAL     Doc. #:  20     Filed: 06/05/26     Page: 1 of 2 PageID #:
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undue prejudice to the non-moving pa rty, or futility of amendment.’ ” 
Popp Telcom v. Am. Sharecom, Inc.,  210 F.3d 928, 943 (8th Cir. 2000) 
(internal citations omitted).  The party opposing amendment bears the 
burden of proving that some reason exists to deny leave to amend .  
Roberson v. Hayti Police Dep’t , 241 F.3d 992, 995 (8th Cir. 2001).  
“[W]hether to allow a party to amend her complaint is left to the sound 
discretion of the district court[.]”  Popoalii v. Corr. Med. Servs., 512 F.3d 
488, 497 (8th Cir. 2008).  Here, the Defendant has not opposed the motion 
and the time to do so has passed.  See Local Rule 4.01(B).  The Court sees 
no reason not to grant the motion.   
Accordingly, 
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED  that Plaintiff Diondrae Johnson’s 
Motion For Leave to File Amended Complaint, Doc. 13, is GRANTED.   
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED  that Plaintiff Diondrae L. Johnson 
file a clean copy of the proposed Amended Complaint, attached as Exhibit 
A to his Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint.  
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the First Motion to Dismiss 
Case, Doc. 16, is DENIED as moot. 
 
SO ORDERED, 
This 5th day of June, 2026. 
 
___________________________  
Hon. Maria A. Lanahan 
United States District Judge 
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