(PC) Beckett v. Moreno ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MATTHEW BECKETT, Case No. 1:20-cv-01427-NONE-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO MODIFY 13 v. DISCOVERY AND SCHEDULING ORDER 14 MORENO, et al., (ECF Nos. 28, 38) 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Matthew Beckett (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 18 pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action proceeds on 19 Plaintiff’s first amended complaint against Defendants Sedillo and Moreno for excessive force in 20 violation of the Eighth Amendment for the incident on October 21, 2018, for force used after the 21 time Plaintiff lost consciousness. 22 On April 29, 2021, the Court issued a Discovery and Scheduling Order setting the 23 deadline for completion of all discovery for December 29, 2021 and the deadline for filing all 24 dispositive motions (other than a motion for summary judgment for failure to exhaust) for March 25 10, 2022. (ECF No. 25.) 26 Currently pending before the Court are Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the 27 ground that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, (ECF No. 27), Defendants’ 28 motion to stay the discovery and scheduling order, (ECF No. 28), and Plaintiff’s motion seeking 1 leave to file a second amended complaint and lodged second amended complaint, (ECF Nos. 30, 2 31). 3 On December 17, 2021, Defendants also filed a motion to modify the discovery and 4 scheduling order requesting that the Court vacate the discovery and dispositive motion deadlines 5 or to extend the dates by six months each. (ECF No. 38.) Plaintiff has not yet filed a response, 6 but the Court finds a response unnecessary and the motion is deemed submitted. Local Rule 7 230(l). 8 Pursuant to Rule 16(b), a scheduling order “may be modified only for good cause and 9 with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). The “good cause” standard “primarily 10 considers the diligence of the party seeking the amendment.” Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 11 Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). The court may modify the scheduling order “if it cannot 12 reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.” Id. If the party was 13 not diligent, the inquiry should end. Id. 14 Defendants state that good cause exists to grant the motion because Defendants diligently 15 pursued this matter by preparing and filing a timely exhaustion-based motion for summary 16 judgment, which they argue will likely resolve this case in its entirety. (ECF No. 38.) While the 17 motion for summary judgment is pending, the discovery and dispositive deadlines are 18 approaching and good cause exists to either vacate them pending resolution of the various m 19 options, or to extend the deadlines to allow the Court time to rule on Plaintiff’s motion to amend, 20 and then Defendants’ motions, if applicable. Defendants contend that if the Court does not 21 modify the deadlines, both parties will be prejudiced in their ability to conduct discovery and file 22 merits-based dispositive motions, as the scope of Plaintiff’s claims are uncertain. (Id.) 23 Having considered Defendants’ moving papers, the Court finds good cause to modify the 24 Discovery and Scheduling Order. The Court finds it would be an efficient use of the resources of 25 the Court and the parties to resolve the scope of Plaintiff’s claims, and if necessary, address any 26 exhaustion issues, prior to reaching the merits of this action. Finally, the Court finds that the 27 relief granted here will not result in prejudice to Plaintiff. 28 /// 1 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 2 1. Defendants’ motion to stay discovery, (ECF No. 28), and motion to modify the scheduling 3 order, (ECF No. 38), are GRANTED IN PART; 4 2. The discovery and dispositive motion deadlines are VACATED; and 5 3. As necessary and appropriate, the Court will reset the deadlines following resolution of 6 the pending motions. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 9 Dated: December 20, 2021 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28