(PC) Brookins v. Acosta ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BARRY L. BROOKINS, Case No. 1:19-cv-00401-JLT-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO LIFT STAY AND ISSUE AMENDED 13 v. DISCOVERY AND SCHEDULING ORDER 14 F. ACOSTA, (Doc. No. 55) 15 Defendant. AMENDED DISCOVERY AND SCHEDULING ORDER 16 Deadline for Exhaustion-Based Motion: 12/15/23 Deadline to Amend Pleadings: 01/12/24 17 Deadline to Complete Discovery: 05/07/24 Deadline for Dispositive Motion(s): 07/08/24 18 19 20 21 On September 20, 2023, Defendant filed a status report advising that the state appellate 22 court had issued its ruling in connection with Plaintiff’s appeal of the state superior court decision 23 in Plaintiff’s relate state court case and denied Plaintiff’s subsequent motion for reconsideration. 24 (Doc. No. 55). Defendant incorporates in its status report, a motion to lift the stay and request for 25 the Court to issue an [amended] discovery and scheduling order for this case.1 (Id. at 2). 26 //// 27 1 The Court previously issued a Discovery and Scheduling Order on April 5, 2022 (Doc. No. 33) before the Court 28 issued a stay of this action on December 1, 2022 (Doc. No. 39). 1 ACCORDINGLY, it is ORDERED: 2 1. Defendant’s motion to lift the stay and for issuance of an [amended] Discovery 3 and Scheduling Order (Doc. No. 55) is GRANTED. 4 2. The Clerk shall LIFT THE STAY of this action. 5 3. The following deadlines and procedures shall govern the management of this case: 6 I. Written Discovery: 7 Discovery requests shall be served by the parties in compliance with Rule 5 of the Federal 8 Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P.) and Eastern District of California Local Rule 135. 9 Discovery requests and responses shall not be filed with the Court unless required by Eastern 10 District California Local Rules 250.2, 250.3 and 250.4. Absent leave of Court, discovery is 11 limited as follows: 12 The parties are limited to 15 interrogatories under Fed. R. Civ. P. 33; 13 The parties are limited to 15 requests for admission under Fed. R. Civ. P. 36; 14 The parties are limited to 15 requests to produce under Fed. R. Civ. P. 34. 15 Responses to documents shall include all documents within a party’s possession, custody, 16 or control. Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1). Documents are deemed within a party’s possession, custody, 17 or control if the party has actual possession, custody, or control thereof, or the legal right to 18 obtain the property on demand. Allen v. Woodford, 2007 WL 309945, at *2 (E.D. Cal. 2007). 19 Responses to written discovery including the production of documents shall be due within 20 forty-five (45) days after the request is served. Boilerplate objections are disfavored and may be 21 summarily overruled by the Court. All discovery must be completed by the above-referenced 22 discovery cut-off date. 23 The parties are required to act in good faith during discovery and are required to meet and 24 confer, via correspondence or telephonically, to resolve any discovery dispute. The failure to do 25 so may result in the imposition of sanctions, if appropriate. Any motions to compel must be 26 filed no later than fourteen (14) days of the discovery cut-off date. Failure to timely file a 27 motion to compel will result in a waiver of any objections. The moving party must include 28 certification that they have complied with their duty to meet and confer. The failure to 1 include a certification will result in the motion being stricken. 2 II. Depositions 3 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(B), Defendants may depose Plaintiff and any other 4 witness confined in a prison upon condition that, at least fourteen (14) days before such a 5 deposition, Defendants serve all parties with the notice required by Rule 30(b)(1). Pursuant to 6 Fed. R, Civ. P. 30(b)(4), the parties may take any deposition under this section by video 7 conference, relieving the court reporter of the requirement to be in the physical presence of the 8 witness under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(a)(1) during that deposition. Nothing herein 9 forecloses a party from bringing a motion for protective order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1) 10 if deemed necessary. 11 Disagreement with any directive of security staff at the institution or prison at which the 12 deposition is scheduled is not a basis for the Plaintiff to refuse to answer questions, and the failure 13 of Plaintiff to attend, be sworn, or answer appropriate questions may result in sanctions, including 14 terminating the action as provided in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. 15 III. Case Management Deadlines 16 The following deadlines shall govern this action: 17 A. Deadline to challenge exhaustion of administrative remedies: December 15, 2023. 18 B. Deadline to amend pleadings: January 12, 2024.2 19 C. Deadline to complete non-expert discovery: May 7, 2024. Any motions to compel 20 must be filed within fourteen (14) days from this discovery cut-off date. 21 D. Deadline to file pre-trial dispositive motions: July 8, 2024. 22 E. In addition to complying with the applicable rules, a motion and incorporated 23 memorandum and any responses in opposition shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length, 24 exclusive of exhibits. A reply shall not exceed seven (7) pages in length. A party must move and 25 show good cause for exceeding these page limitations. Any motions filed in excess of these page 26 27 2 This date does not permit any party to unilaterally file an amended pleading. Any amendments to the pleadings must comply with all applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (i.e., Rule 15) and Local Rules 28 (i.e., Local Rule 220). 1 | limitations may be struck. 2 F. Defendants shall lodge a Word version of any dispositive motion to chambers at: 3 | hbkorders@caed.uscourts.gov. 4 Any requests for an extension to any deadline set in this Discovery and Scheduling Order 5 | must be filed at least seven (7) days prior to its expiration. The deadlines set forth above are firm 6 | and will only be extended upon a showing of good cause. Eleventh hours motions, /.e., motions 7 | filed on the eve of the deadline expiration, to extend a deadline will only be granted upon a 8 | showing of extraordinary circumstances. 9 | Dated: __October 2, 2023 Wile. Th fareh Zack 11 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28