What are the PACER docket numbers for the April 2016 California Katie Johnson filing and the June 2016 New York Jane Doe filing?

Checked on February 2, 2026
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Executive summary

The April 2016 California filing by the plaintiff using the pseudonym “Katie Johnson” appears in federal dockets as 5:16‑cv‑00797 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Riverside division) [1] [2]. Reporting and the available docket aggregators confirm a June 2016 New York filing by the same plaintiff using the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” but the provided sources do not contain a published PACER docket number for that June New York filing, and this review cannot locate an authoritative PACER identifier for it in the supplied material [3] [4] [5].

1. The California April 2016 “Katie Johnson” filing — docket number and public records trail

The April 2016 complaint filed under the name “Katie Johnson” in California is recorded in court databases with the case number 5:16‑cv‑00797 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, a fact reflected in major docket repositories such as Justia and CourtListener, which copy PACER-derived entries [1] [2]. CourtListener’s entry shows the complaint against Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein was entered on April 27, 2016 and indicates the case was assigned to Judge Dolly M. Gee, matching the timeline reported across contemporaneous press coverage [2] [4].

2. The June 2016 New York “Jane Doe” filing — reporting confirms it existed but the docket number is not in the provided sources

Multiple outlets and document excerpts report that the anonymous plaintiff refiled versions of her allegations in New York federal court in June 2016 under the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” and that later versions appeared in September 2016 before being withdrawn in November 2016 [3] [4] [6]. However, among the supplied sources there is no explicit PACER-style docket number (for example, S.D.N.Y. format such as 1:16‑cv‑####) attached to the June New York filing; the Politico document packet and related excerpts reference filings and declarations in the Southern District of New York but do not display a docket number in the material provided here [5] [4]. Consequently, a definitive PACER docket number for the June 2016 New York “Jane Doe” filing cannot be extracted from the current reporting set.

3. Why one docket number is clear and the other is not — gaps, redactions, and re‑filings

The California matter’s PACER-derived identifier is visible because the Central District docket listing and archival services have retained and republished that initial filing metadata [1] [2]. By contrast, the New York filings involved multiple re‑filings, pseudonymous plaintiffs, withdrawals, and subsequent press-related confidentiality steps that complicate public traceability; the supplied New York materials show pleadings and declarations but do not include a clear PACER case number in the excerpts available to this review [5] [3] [4]. Several reporting outlets note the case’s short lifespan, voluntary withdrawals, and press cancellations, all of which can lead to fewer persistent public footprints in secondary repositories [4] [3].

4. How to confirm the missing PACER number (and why verification matters)

To obtain the authoritative PACER docket number for the June 2016 Southern District of New York filing, one must search PACER’s S.D.N.Y. case index or the court’s ECF system using party names, filing dates (June 2016), or docket text such as “Jane Doe” and Jeffrey Epstein/Donald J. Trump; secondary aggregators may list it if they have pulled that specific file from PACER [1]. The sources reviewed here remind users that many public aggregators copy PACER content but may omit or redact certain entries, and that PACER subscription access is frequently required for complete, official docket metadata [1] [2].

5. Bottom line

The California April 2016 Katie Johnson filing is associated with PACER case number 5:16‑cv‑00797 in the Central District of California [1] [2]. Reporting confirms a June 2016 New York filing by the same plaintiff under the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” but the supplied documents do not include an explicit PACER docket number for that June New York filing; locating the exact S.D.N.Y. docket number will require a PACER/ECF search or access to the original S.D.N.Y. filings [5] [3] [4].

Want to dive deeper?
What are the PACER case numbers for the September 2016 New York refile of the Jane Doe complaint and its subsequent dismissal filings?
How do PACER, CourtListener and RECAP differ in coverage and why might a filing appear in one but not the others?
What contemporaneous news accounts and court orders document the sequence of filings, withdrawals, and dismissals in the Katie Johnson / Jane Doe litigation in 2016?