Fritz v. Breitenbach ( 2024 )

1 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 GREGORY A. FRITZ, Case No. 3:23-cv-00241-ART-CLB 5 Petitioner, ORDER 6 v. 7 NETHANJAH BREITENBACH, et al., 8 Respondents. 9 10 This habeas corpus action was initiated on June 6, 2023, by Gregory A. 11 Fritz, who is incarcerated at Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Center. The Court 12 received Fritz’s pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus on July 12, 2023. (ECF 13 No. 6.) On July 21, 2023, the Court granted Fritz’s motion for appointment of 14 counsel appointed counsel appeared on Fritz’s behalf on August 17, 2023. (ECF 15 Nos. 7, 8, 11.) With counsel, Fritz filed a first amended habeas petition for writ of 16 habeas corpus on May 13, 2024. (ECF No. 19.) Also on May 13, 2024, Fritz filed 17 a motion for leave of court to file a second amended habeas petition. (ECF No. 18 20.) The respondents filed an opposition to that motion (ECF No. 21), and Fritz 19 filed a reply (ECF No. 25). Fritz attached his proposed second amended petition 20 to his reply. (ECF No. 25-1). 21 The Court grants leave to amend when justice so requires. See Fed. R. Civ. 22 P. 15(a)(2). Rule 15 is applied with “extreme liberality.” See United States v. Webb, 23 655 F.2d 977, 979 (9th Cir. 1981). When deciding whether to grant leave to 24 amend, a court may consider such factors as “bad faith, undue delay, prejudice 25 to the opposing party, futility of the amendment, and whether the party has 26 previously amended his pleadings.” In re Morris, 363 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 27 2004). The Court determines that granting Fritz leave to file the second amended 28 petition is in the interests of justice, and there is no indication of bad faith, undue 1 delay, prejudice to Respondents, futility of the amendment, or any other factor 2 weighing against granting Fritz leave. The Court will grant Fritz’s motion and 3 order his second amended petition filed, and the Court will set a schedule for 4 Respondents to respond to the second amended petition. In this order, the Court 5 does not make any comment upon, or affect in any manner, the operation of any 6 applicable statute of limitations. 7 When Fritz filed his reply in support of his motion for leave to amend, Fritz 8 filed an exhibit under seal (ECF No. 26), and he attached to the reply a motion 9 for leave to file the exhibit under seal (ECF No. 25-2). While there is a strong 10 presumption in favor of public access to judicial filings and while courts prefer 11 that the public retain access them, see Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 12 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978), a court may seal its records if a party demonstrates 13 “compelling reasons” to do so. See Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 14 1172, 1178–79 (9th Cir. 2006). The exhibit Fritz filed under seal includes an 15 individual’s medical records. There is good cause for the exhibit to be filed under 16 seal. 17 It is therefore ordered that Petitioner’s Motion for Leave to File Second 18 Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (ECF No. 20) is granted. 19 It is further ordered that the Clerk of the Court is directed to separately file 20 Petitioner’s Second Amended § 2254 Petition (ECF No. 25-1). The Clerk of the 21 Court is directed to cross out the word “Proposed” in the caption of that document 22 to reflect that it is Petitioner’s “Second Amended § 2254 Petition.” 23 It is further ordered that the Clerk of the Court is directed to separately file 24 Petitioner’s Motion for Leave to File Exhibit Under Seal (ECF No. 25-2). 25 Petitioner’s Motion for Leave to File Exhibit Under Seal (ECF No. 25-2) is granted. 26 As the exhibit in question has already been filed under seal (ECF No. 26), the 27 Clerk of the Court need take no further action in this regard. 28 1 It is further ordered that Respondents will have 60 days from the date on 2 || which this order is entered to file an answer or other response to the second 3 || amended habeas petition. In all other respects, the schedule for further 4 || proceedings set forth in the order entered August 21, 2023 (ECF No. 12) will 5 || remain in effect. 6 Dated this 18 day of June 2024. 7 8 Ana jlosed Jer 9 ANNE R. TRAUM 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28