Corbera v. Taylor ( 2021 )

1 Paul Goyette (SBN 137250) Martin Ruano (SBN 258532) 2 Caitlyn I. Andrijich (SBN. 333082) 2366 Gold Meadow Way, Suite 200 3 Gold River CA 95670 Telephone: (916) 851-1900 4 Facsimile: (916) 851-1995 Email: paul@grtlaw.com 5 martin@grtlaw.com caitlyn@grtlaw.com 6 Attorneys for Defendant, 7 HENRY JAMES TAYLOR 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 WESLEY CORBERA, as executor of the estate of Case No. 2:21-CV-1998-WBS-KJN 12 Harrison Carmel Breedlove, Deceased, 13 STIPULATION TO LIMITED STAY OF DISCOVERY AND ORDER Plaintiff, 14 vs. 15 16 HENRY JAMES TAYLOR, and DOES 1-10, 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 Plaintiff Wesley Corbera and Defendant Henry James Taylor (hereafter the “PARTIES”), 21 through their respective attorneys, hereby stipulate and respectfully request that the Court order a 22 limited stay of discovery in this matter, such that no discovery may be propounded by Plaintiff upon 23 Defendant Henry James Taylor (hereafter “TAYLOR”) until the earlier of six months from the date 24 this stipulation is so ordered by the Court, or such time as TAYLOR no longer faces the risk of 25 criminal prosecution arising out of the motor vehicle accident that resulted in the death of Harrison 26 Breedlove. 27 The Parties are requesting this limited stay because TAYLOR is the defendant in a related 28 1 criminal case in Shasta County Superior Court, People v. Taylor, CR-2020-0007377-002, that is 2 currently pending and set for trial on January 19, 2022. This civil case is based on the same incident 3 and facts as the pending criminal case, and therefore TAYLOR risks self-incrimination if he is 4 compelled to respond to any discovery requests, or make initial disclosures. Accordingly, any 5 response by TAYLOR in any form of discovery in this civil case would inevitably involve divulging 6 material facts or constitutionally protected information related to the issues in the criminal case. 7 The Court has broad discretionary power to stay the proceeding, including discovery, in the 8 interests of justice and securing the optimal and efficient resolution of controversies. Landis v. North 9 American Co., 299 U.S. 248 (1936); see also Keating v. Officer of Thrift Supervision, 45 F.3d 322, 10 324 (9th Cir. 1995). Both Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s interests are served by the issuance of a 11 temporary and limited stay of discovery as set forth above. 12 For all of these reasons, the PARTIES jointly request that the Court stay discovery directed by 13 Plaintiff to TAYLOR, and relieve TAYLOR of the obligation to make initial disclosures pursuant to 14 Rule 26(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, until the earlier of six months from the date 15 this stipulation is so ordered by the Court, or the time that TAYLOR no longer faces the risk of 16 criminal prosecution arising out of the motor vehicle accident that caused the death of Harrison 17 Breedlove. The PARTIES contemplate and agree that Plaintiff may direct discovery to third parties, 18 but TAYLOR and those third parties retain all rights to object to that discovery on any applicable 19 grounds. 20 It is expressly contemplated by the PARTIES that should TAYLOR’s Fifth Amendment 21 concerns extend beyond the initial six-month period provided for in this stipulation, they will meet 22 and confer in good faith in an attempt to stipulate to appropriate continuing terms. 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 1 /// 2 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED by and between the parties that this Stipulation may be signed 3 in counterparts and that facsimile or electronic signatures will be equally effective as original 4 signatures. 5 6 Dated: December 21, 2021 GOYETTE, RUANO & THOMPSON, INC. 7 A Professional Law Corporation 8 By: /s/ Martin Ruano 9 Martin Ruano, Esq. Caitlyn Andrijich, Esq. 10 Attorneys for Defendant TAYLOR 11 |) Dated: December 21, 2021 BRENT & FIOL, LLP 13 14 By: /s/ David Fiol David Fiol, Esq. 15 Joseph Brent, Esq. 16 Attorneys for Plaintiff Wesley Corbera 17 18 IT IS SO ORDERED 19 Discovery is stayed for a limited purpose pursuant to the stipulation of the parties. The 20 Scheduling Conference is continued from March 14, 2021 to September 12, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. 21 Dated: December 23, 2021 /, ’ . ak. 2 22 WILLIAM B. SHUBB 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28 3 ee