(PC) Garraway v. Ciufo ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MITCHELL GARRAWAY, 1:17-cv-00533-DAD-GSA-PC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT 13 vs. CONFERENCE 14 JACQUILINE CIUFO, et al., 15 Defendants. May 25, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. 16 Videoconference 17 Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone 18 19 20 21 Mitchell Garraway (“Plaintiff”) is a federal prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 22 pauperis with this civil rights action pursuant to Bivens vs. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388 23 (1971). The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference 24 between Plaintiff and Defendant Ciufo only. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate 25 Judge Stanley A. Boone for the court’s Settlement Week program to conduct a settlement 26 conference on May 25, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 27 and evolving coronavirus protocols, the court finds that the parties shall appear remotely via 28 the Zoom videoconferencing application. 1 Counsel for Defendant Ciufo shall contact Courtroom Deputy, Mamie Hernandez, at 2 (559) 499-5672 or mhernandez@caed.uscourts.gov for the video and dial-in information, 3 including any necessary passcodes, for all parties. Counsel for Defendant Ciufo is also 4 required to arrange for Plaintiff’s participation by contacting the Litigation Coordinator at the 5 institution where Plaintiff is housed and providing the necessary Zoom contact information. 6 Plaintiff and Defendant Ciufo shall each submit to Judge Boone a confidential 7 settlement conference statement, as described below, to arrive at least seven days prior (one 8 week) to the conference. 9 The court puts the parties on notice that if Plaintiff has any outstanding criminal 10 restitution obligation, fines and/or penalties, these settlement negotiations shall not be geared 11 towards what the restitution obligation is, but what the value of the case itself is to each side, 12 irrespective of any outstanding restitution obligation. 13 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 14 1. This case is set for a remote settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley 15 A. Boone on May 25, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. 16 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a 17 binding settlement shall attend in person. 18 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 19 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear 20 in person may result in the cancellation of the conference and the imposition of 21 sanctions. The manner and timing of Plaintiff’s transportation to and from the 22 conference is within the discretion of CDCR. 23 4. Defendant Ciufo shall provide a confidential settlement statement to the following 24 email address: saborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential 25 settlement statement to U.S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 26 93721, “Attention: Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone.” The envelope shall be 27 marked “Confidential Settlement Statement.” Settlement statements shall arrive no 28 later than May 18, 2021. Both parties shall also file a Notice of Submission of 1 Confidential Settlement Conference Statement (See Local Rule 270(d)). Settlement 2 statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any other 3 party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the date 4 and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 5 5. The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 6 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 7 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 8 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds 9 upon which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ 10 likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the 11 major issues in dispute. 12 c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, 13 and trial. 14 d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 15 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 16 e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 17 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to 18 pay. 19 f. If the parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 20 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 21 including case number(s) if applicable. 22 6. If a settlement is reached at any time prior to the settlement conference, defense 23 counsel is to immediately inform the courtroom deputy of Magistrate Judge Boone 24 and file a Notice of Settlement in accordance with Local Rule 160. 25 7. The parties remain obligated to keep the court informed of their current address at 26 all time during the stay and while the action is pending. Any change of address 27 must be reported promptly to the court in a separate document captioned for this 28 case and entitled “Notice of Change of Address.” See Local Rule 182(f). 1 8. A failure to follow these procedures may result in the imposition of sanctions by the 2 court. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 5 Dated: March 12, 2021 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28