(PC) Rood v. Shasta County Jail Medical Staff ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 COLTON JAMES ROOD, No. 2:19-cv-1630 MCE DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 SHASTA COUNTY JAIL MEDICAL STAFF et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights 19 action seeking relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Presently before the court is plaintiff’s fourth 20 motion for an extension of time to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 45.) For the reasons 21 stated below, the court will grant the motion. 22 I. Background 23 On January 31, 2023, the court issued an order finding that plaintiff’s second amended 24 complaint stated cognizable Eighth Amendment claims against defendants Mason, Von German, 25 and Decker. (ECF No. 34.) Plaintiff was granted the option to proceed on the second amended 26 complaint as screened or to file an amended complaint. (Id.) Plaintiff notified the court that he 27 wished to amend the complaint. (ECF No. 39.) 28 //// 1 Plaintiff sought, and the court granted, three extensions of time to file the amended 2 complaint. (ECF Nos. 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 43.) In his third motion for an extension of time, he 3 stated that he had been hospitalized several times, that he had been moved to a new location, and 4 that, consequently, he did not have access to documents he needed to prepare an amended 5 complaint. (ECF No. 42.) The court granted plaintiff sixty days to file a third amended 6 complaint and advised plaintiff that “[a]bsent extraordinary circumstances, no further extension 7 of time will be granted for this purpose.” (ECF No. 43 at 2.) 8 II. Plaintiff’s fourth motion for an extension of time 9 Plaintiff filed the instant motion on October 23, 2023.1 (ECF No. 45.) In it, he states that 10 he received the legal documents referenced in his third motion for an extension of time in 11 September. (Id. at 1.) Shortly thereafter, he was moved again and waited “several weeks” to 12 have his property returned to him. (Id.) He was then moved a third time and just recently 13 received his property. (Id.) 14 Motions for an extension of time are governed by Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil 15 Procedure. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1258 (9th Cir. 2010). That rule 16 provides: 17 When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time: 18 (A) with or without motion or notice if the court acts, or if a request 19 is made, before the original time or its extension expires; or 20 (B) on motion made after the time has expired if the party failed to act because of excusable neglect. 21 Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1). “[R]equests for extensions of time made before the applicable deadline 22 has passed should ‘normally . . . be granted in the absence of bad faith on the part of the party 23 seeking relief or prejudice to the adverse party.’” Ahanchian, 624 F.3d at 1259. 24 The court finds good cause to grant plaintiff’s motion. Plaintiff was directed to file a third 25 amended complaint on or before October 23, 2023. (See ECF No. 43.) The instant motion is 26 1 Under the prison mailbox rule, a document is deemed served or filed on the date a prisoner signs 27 the document and gives it to prison officials for mailing. See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988) (establishing the prison mailbox rule); Campbell v. Henry, 614 F.3d 105, 1059 (9th Cir. 28 2010) (applying the mailbox rule to both state and federal filings by incarcerated inmates). 1 | therefore timely. There is no indication of bad faith on plaintiff's part, and defendants should not 2 | be prejudiced, as there is no operative complaint in this action and defendants have yet to be 3 | served. 4 The court will grant him sixty days to file a third amended complaint. Absent 5 | extraordinary circumstances, no further extensions of time will be granted for this purpose. 6 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 7 1. Plaintiff's motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 45) is granted; 8 2. Within sixty days of the date of this order, plaintiff shall file a third amended 9 complaint; 10 3. Absent extraordinary circumstances, no further extensions of time will be granted for 11 this purpose; and 12 4. Failure to comply with this order will result in a recommendation that this action be 13 dismissed. 14 | Dated: October 31, 2023 15 16 U7 ORAH BARNES mB: 1S UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 | pp Prisoner Inbox/Civil Rights/R/r00d 1630.36(4) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28