(PC) Mansour v. North Kern State Prison ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 MUSTAFFA MANSOUR, Case No. 1:22-cv-01054-JLT-EPG (PC) 10 Plaintiff, ORDER REQUIRING PARTIES TO EXCHANGE DOCUMENTS 11 v. 12 CORRECTIONAL OFFICER LUKEN, 13 Defendant. 14 15 Mustafa Mansour is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this 16 civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has reviewed this case and the 17 parties’ scheduling and discovery statements. (ECF Nos. 50, 52). To secure the just, speedy, 18 and inexpensive disposition of this action,1 the Court will direct that certain documents that are 19 central to the dispute be promptly produced.2 20 21 1 See, e.g., United States v. W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d 499, 508-09 (9th Cir. 2008) (“We begin with 22 the principle that the district court is charged with effectuating the speedy and orderly administration of 23 justice. There is universal acceptance in the federal courts that, in carrying out this mandate, a district court has the authority to enter pretrial case management and discovery orders designed to ensure that 24 the relevant issues to be tried are identified, that the parties have an opportunity to engage in appropriate 25 discovery and that the parties are adequately and timely prepared so that the trial can proceed efficiently and intelligibly.”). 26 2 Advisory Committee Notes to 1993 Amendment to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding 27 Rule 26(a) (“The enumeration in Rule 26(a) of items to be disclosed does not prevent a court from requiring by order or local rule that the parties disclose additional information without a discovery 28 request.”). 1 1 Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that: 2 1. Each party has sixty days from the date of service of this order to serve opposing 3 parties, or their counsel, if represented, with copies of the following documents 4 and/or evidence that they have in their possession, custody, or control, to the 5 extent the parties have not already done so:3 6 a. Documents regarding exhaustion of Plaintiff’s claims, including 602s, 7 Form 22s, and responses from the appeals office. 8 b. All documents regarding the Rules Violation Reports, if any, associated 9 with the incident(s) alleged in the complaint, including disciplinary 10 charges and findings. 11 c. Witness statements and evidence that were generated from 12 investigation(s) related to the event(s) at issue in the complaint, such as 13 an investigation stemming from the processing of Plaintiff’s 14 grievance(s).4 15 d. Incident reports regarding the use of force incident(s) alleged in the 16 complaint. 17 e. All of Plaintiff’s medical records related to the incident(s) and/or 18 condition(s) at issue in the case. 19 20 21 3 Defense counsel is requested to obtain these documents from Plaintiff’s institution(s) of confinement. If defense counsel is unable to do so, defense counsel should inform Plaintiff that a third 22 party subpoena is required. 23 4 See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 94-95 (2006) (“[P]roper exhaustion improves the quality of those prisoner suits that are eventually filed because proper exhaustion often results in the creation of an 24 administrative record that is helpful to the court. When a grievance is filed shortly after the event giving 25 rise to the grievance, witnesses can be identified and questioned while memories are still fresh, and evidence can be gathered and preserved.”). 26 The Court notes that Defendant(s) only need to produce documents such as a Confidential 27 Appeal Inquiry or a Use of Force Critique to the extent those documents contain witness statements related to the incident(s) alleged in the complaint and/or evidence related to the incident(s) alleged in the 28 complaint that will not be provided to Plaintiff separately. 2 1 f. Chronos for transfer or Administrative Segregation placement related to 2 the incident(s) alleged in the complaint, if any. 3 g. Video recordings and photographs related to the incident(s) at issue in 4 the complaint, including video recordings and photographs of Plaintiff 5 taken following the incident(s).5 6 2. If any party obtains documents and/or other evidence described above later in 7 the case from a third party, that party shall provide all other parties with copies 8 of the documents and/or evidence within thirty days. 9 3. Parties do not need to produce documents or evidence that they have already 10 produced. 11 4. Parties do not need to produce documents or evidence that were provided to 12 them by the opposing party. 13 5. Parties may object to producing any of the above-listed documents and/or 14 evidence. Objections shall be filed with the Court and served on all other parties 15 within sixty days from the date of service of this order (or within thirty days of 16 receiving additional documents and/or evidence). The objection should include 17 the basis for not providing the documents and/or evidence. If Defendant(s) 18 object based on the official information privilege, Defendant(s) shall follow the 19 procedures described in the Court’s scheduling order. 20 \\\ 21 \\\ 22 \\\ 23 \\\ 24 \\\ 25 \\\ 26 27 5 If Plaintiff is not allowed possess, or is unable to play, video recording(s), defense counsel shall work with staff at Plaintiff’s institution of confinement to ensure that Plaintiff is able to view the 28 video recording(s). 3 1 If a party files an objection, all other parties have fourteen days from the date the 2 objection is filed to file a response. If any party files a response to an objection, 3 the Court will issue a ruling on the objection. 4 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 |! Dated: _December 19, 2023 [see hey 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28