(PC) Cortinas v. Vasquez ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LARRY WILLIAM CORTINAS, Case No. 1:19-cv-00367-JLT-SKO (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER OVERRULING PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS TO DENIAL OF REQUEST 13 v. TO RE-OPEN DISCOVERY 14 VASQUEZ, et al., (Doc. 118) 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff, Larry William Cortinas, is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil 19 rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 I. INTRODUCTION 21 This matter was previously set for an evidentiary hearing on August 2, 2022, to determine 22 whether Plaintiff administratively exhausted his claims and whether administrative remedies were 23 available to Plaintiff. 24 On May 31, 2022, Plaintiff filed a document titled “Objection to the May 11th 2022 Order 25 Denying a Request to Re-Open Discovery for a Limited Scope as Described to Establish 26 Unavailability of Administrative Remedies.” (Doc. 118.) 27 On June 6, 2022, the Court issued an order vacating the August 2, 2022, evidentiary hearing and directing Defendants to file supplemental briefing. (Doc. 119.) 1 II. DISCUSSION 2 On June 6, 2022, the Court directed Defendants to file supplemental briefing on the issue 3 of administrative exhaustion and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Saddozai 4 v. Davis.1 (Doc. 119 at 3.) Plaintiff will have an opportunity to respond to Defendants’ 5 supplemental briefing should he elect to do so. (Id. at 3.) Discovery, whether related to the 6 exhaustion of administrative remedies or the merits of Plaintiff’s claims, will be stayed pending 7 the Court’s review and consideration of the supplemental briefing or until further order of the 8 Court. 9 Plaintiff’s objections to the Court’s May 11, 2022, Order denying his request to re-open 10 discovery are moot in light of the Court’s June 6, 2022, Order directing supplemental briefing and 11 vacating the evidentiary hearing, and will be overruled. 12 III. CONCLUSION AND ORDER 13 For the reasons stated above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 14 1. Plaintiff’s objections filed May 31, 2022 (Doc. 118) are OVERRULED as MOOT; 15 and 16 2. Discovery is STAYED pending this Court’s consideration of the anticipated 17 supplemental briefing or until further order of the Court. 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 20 Dated: June 9, 2022 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 Saddozai v. Davis, ___ F.4th ___, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-17519, 2022 WL 1613616