Botts v. Sheppard ( 2021 )

3 . 4 . □ 5 . 6 7 8 - UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 . 11 || D?RON BOTTS, Case No.: 3:19-cv-01387-DMS-RBM 12 Plaintitt, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 || v. MOTION TO EXTEND EXPERT 14 || CORRECTIONAL OFFICER MOTION DEADLINES 15 SHEPPARD, et al., . 16 Defendants. . 7 [Doc. 41] 18 . 19 _ Before the Court is Plaintiff D’Ron Botts (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants J. Newman, 20 ||C. Legge, R. Rodriguez, F. Camacho, A. Shepherd, and D. Paramo’s (collectively 21 “Defendants”) Joint Motion to Extend Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motion Deadlines 22 ||(“Joint Motion”). (Doc. 41.) The parties seek a three-week continuance of the expert 23 ||discovery deadlines and the pretrial motions cutoff. (Ud. at 2.) The parties allege an 24 |lextension is necessary as COVID-19 and hospitalizations have delayed the original 25 || discovery deadlines. (/d.) Moreover, Plaintiff ‘needs more time to complete expert 26 || discovery and alleges an extension will cause no prejudice. (/d. at 2-3.) 27 28 . 1 This is the parties’ sixth request to continue scheduling order dates. (Docs. 28, 31, 2 ||35, 37, 39, 41.) However, the undersigned notes that the primary. reasons for the multiple 3 || continuances resulted from COVID-19 and Plaintiff's hospitalization. (Doc. 41 at 2.) The 4 || Court’s August 25, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set a pretrial conference on 5 August 20, 2021, with trial to begin on September 20, 2021. (Doc. 36 at 5.) The Court’s 6 || December 28, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set the expert discovery cutoff on 7 || April 23, 2021, and the pretrial motions deadline on May 21, 2021. (Doc. 40 at 3.) 8 A scheduling order may be modified only upon a showing of good cause and with _ 9 || the judge’s consent. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4); see, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 10 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (stating, “the focus of [the good cause] inquiry is 11 || upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification.”). 12 Here, the Court finds good cause to grant a continuance of the expert discovery and 13 pretrial motion deadlines. Additionally, the Court sua sponte continues the pretrial 14 || conference and trial dates. 15 Accordingly, the Joint Motion is GRANTED: 16 l. All expert-discovery shall be completed by all parties by May 14, 2021. The 17 || parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 18 ||discovery. 19 || 2. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 20 result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 21 introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 22 3. All other pretrial motions must be filed by June 11, 2021. Counsel for the 23 || moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will 24 ||hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and the 25 || hearing date may vary from one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure 26 ||to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. || Motions in Limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules or as otherwise set by the 28 || district judge. , 1 4. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 2 ||Dana M. Sabraw on October 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to start on 3 || November 15, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. 4 5. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 5 || shown. 6 . 6. All other dates in the Court’s August 25,2020, and December 28, 2020 orders 7 ||(Docs. 36 and 40) remain unchanged. 8 7. Plaintiffs counsel shall serve a copy of this order on all parties that enter this 9 || case hereafter. . 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 || DATE: April 15, 2021 12 . Bf Bermuda Hyilags D_ 14 ON. RUTH BE EZ MONTENEGRO 15 oe 16 17 || . 18. 19 . 20 2) 09 23 24 25 26 27 28