Estate of Antonio Thomas v. County of Sacramento ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ESTATE OF ANTONIO THOMAS, et al., No. 2:20-cv-0903 KJM DB 12 Plaintiffs, 13 v. ORDER 14 COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 On July 9, 2021, the parties filed a Joint Motion for Leave to Depose a Prisoner pursuant 18 to Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (ECF No. 53.) The motion is noticed for 19 hearing before the undersigned on July 30, 2021.1 The motion explains that the parties jointly 20 seek leave to depose Faron Mello, who is currently incarcerated at the Rio Cosumnes 21 Correctional Center. (Id. at 5.) “[T]he plain language of Rule 30(a) [of the Federal Rules of Civil 22 Procedure] requires ‘leave of court’ when the deponent is confined in prison.” Ashby v. 23 McKenna, 331 F.3d 1148, 1151 (10th Cir. 2003). 24 //// 25 //// 26 //// 27 1 The undersigned finds that the motion may be decided without a hearing pursuant to Local Rule 28 230(g). 1 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 2 1. The parties’ July 9, 2021 joint motion for leave to depose a prisoner (ECF No. 53) is 3 | granted; 4 2. The July 30, 2021 hearing of the motion for leave is vacated; and 5 3. The parties may depose Faron Mello. 6 | Dated: July 21, 2021 7 8 9 ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DB /orders/orders,civil/thomas090.£30.0rd 26 27 28