J.A.J. v. Jimenez ( 2021 )

1 ROB BONTA, State Bar No. 202668 Panos Lagos, Esq. (SBN 61821) Attorney General of California LAW OFFICES OF PANOS LAGOS 2 PETER A. MESHOT, State Bar No. 117061 5032 Woodminster Lane Supervising Deputy Attorney General Oakland, CA 94602-2614 3 DIANA ESQUIVEL, State Bar No. 202954 Tel: 510.530.4078 Deputy Attorney General Fax: 510.530.4725 4 1300 I Street, Suite 125 E-mail: panos@panoslagoslaw.com P.O. Box 944255 5 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 Sanjay S. Schmidt (SBN 247475) Telephone: (916) 210-7320 LAW OFFICE OF SANJAY S. SCHMIDT 6 Facsimile: (916) 322-8288 1388 Sutter Street, Suite 810 E-mail: Diana.Esquivel@doj.ca.gov San Francisco, CA 94109 7 Tel: (415) 563-8583 Attorneys for Defendant Jimenez Fax: (415) 223-9717 8 E-mail: ss@sanjayschmidtlaw.com 9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs J. A. J. and Teresa Gonzalez-Velazquez 10 11 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 FRESNO DIVISION 14 15 J.A.J., et al. No. 1:18-cv-01138-DAD-SKO 16 Plaintiffs, STIPULATION AND ORDER TO 17 MODIFY SCHEDULING ORDER TO v. EXTEND THE DISPOSITIVE-MOTION 18 DEADLINE BY SEVEN DAYS 19 EFRAIN JIMENEZ, et al., (Doc. 56) 20 Defendants. Action Filed: August 22, 2018 21 22 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4) and Local Rule 143, the parties, through 23 their respective counsel of record, stipulate and request to modify the April 15, 2020 Amended 24 Scheduling Order (ECF No. 46) to extend the deadline by when dispositive motions must be filed. 25 The current deadline to file dispositive motions is July 2, 2021. (Id.) The parties seek to continue 26 the deadline by seven days to July 9, 2021. Good cause exists to grant this stipulated request 27 because, despite the parties’ diligence, the deposition transcript of a pertinent witness is not yet 28 available. This requested modification will not affect any other scheduling deadline. 1 When an act must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend 2 the time with or without motion or notice if the court acts, or if a request is made, before the 3 original time expires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A). A scheduling order may be modified only upon 4 a showing of good cause and by leave of Court. Id. 16(b)(4); see, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth 5 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (describing the factors a court should consider in ruling on 6 such a motion). In considering whether a party moving for a schedule modification has good 7 cause, the Court primarily focuses on the diligence of the party seeking the modification. 8 Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 advisory committee’s notes of 1983 9 amendment). “The district court may modify the pretrial schedule ‘if it cannot reasonably be met 10 despite the diligence of the party seeking the amendment.’” Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 11 advisory committee notes of 1983 amendment). 12 On April 5, 2019, the Court entered its initial Scheduling Order. (ECF No. 23.) Due to the 13 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties requested, and the Court granted, an extension of 14 all the scheduling deadlines and trial on April 20, 2020. (ECF No. 46.) It should be noted that, at 15 that time, the full scope and expected duration of the pandemic and concomitant public health 16 measures and restrictions were unknown by public health and government officials, let alone the 17 parties and their respective counsel. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the parties 18 have completed fact and expert discovery. On June 10, 2021, the last witness, Sergeant Kerber of 19 the Madera County Sheriff’s Department, was deposed. However, the transcript of his deposition 20 is not yet available. The testimony of Sergeant Kerber is needed to support Defendant’s motion 21 for summary judgment that he intends to file. Without it, Defendant is not likely to meet his 22 burden. For this reason, Defendant requests, and Plaintiffs have no objection, to a seven-day 23 extension of the July 2 deadline to file dispositive motions. This extension will allow time for the 24 deposition transcript to be prepared or, if necessary, allow Defendant to request an expedited 25 copy. 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 The parties respectfully submit that good cause exists to continue the dispositive-motion 2 deadline. The parties do not anticipate that this request will affect any other scheduling deadline. 3 IT IS SO STIPULATED. 4 Dated: June 29, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 5 6 ROB BONTA Attorney General of California 7 PETER A. MESHOT Supervising Deputy Attorney General 8 9 /s/ Diana Esquivel 10 DIANA ESQUIVEL Deputy Attorney General 11 Attorneys for Defendant Jimenez 12 Dated: June 29, 2021 LAW OFFICES OF PANOS LAGOS 13 /s/ Panos Lagos (as authorized 6/29/21) 14 PANOS LAGOS 15 Attorneys for Plaintiffs J. A. J. and Teresa Gonzalez-Velazquez 16 17 SA2018302522 35241101.docx 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the parties’ above stipulation (Doc. 56), and for good cause shown, IT IS 3 HEREBY ORDERED that the deadline to file dispositive motions is continued from July 2, 2021, 4 to July 9, 2021. In all other respects, the April 15, 2020 Amended Scheduling Order (Doc. 46) 5 remains in effect. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 8 Dated: June 30, 2021 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28