1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Paul G. Amann, No. MC-22-08003-PCT-DWL 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 Attorney General of the State of Utah, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 Pending before the Court are two “notices” filed by Wanda Amann, both of which 16 request relief from the Court and should have been filed as motions. Fed. R. Civ. P. 17 7(b)(1) (“A request for a court order must be made by motion.”). The Court will construe 18 Amann’s “Notice of Third Party Witness’ Medical Emergency” (Doc. 17) as a motion to 19 continue the November 14, 2022 hearing requiring her to show cause why she should not 20 be held in civil contempt and will construe her “Notice of Compliance with Defendants’ 21 Subpoena and Request to Vacate Hearing and Dismiss Case” (Doc. 19) as a motion to 22 vacate the hearing and terminate this action. Both motions are denied. 23 On Friday, November 11, 2022, Ms. Amann filed her notice regarding her 24 “medical emergency” (Doc. 17), which the Utah AG has opposed. (Doc. 18.) Ms. 25 Amann asserts that “she has contracted the COVID-19 virus, is quarantined until at least 26 November 21, 2022; is suffering severe symptoms and is therefore unable to either 27 prepare to defend against the pending contempt allegations or attend the hearing currently 28 set for Tuesday, November 15, 2022.” (Doc. 17.) She attached a doctor’s note. (Doc. 1 17-1.) The Utah AG argues that Ms. Amann “has submitted insufficient evidence to 2 warrant the requested continuance” and notes that “[t]he timing of Ms. Amann’s motion 3 is questionable” as it was filed an hour after the Utah District Court denied her husband’s 4 motion to issue a protective order to stop enforcement of the subpoena at issue in this 5 litigation and this Court’s orders that Ms. Amann must comply. (Doc. 18 at 1-2.) The 6 Utah AG further notes a lack of specificity as to Ms. Amann’s symptoms, Ms. Amann’s 7 previous evasive conduct and “cavalier attitude toward this Court’s orders,” her 8 continued failure to comply with the subpoena, and hardship to the Utah AG in that 9 counsel has secured a nonrefundable airline ticket to Phoenix for tomorrow’s hearing. 10 (Id. at 2-3.) 11 Today—Monday, November 14, 2022—Ms. Amann filed her notice of 12 “compliance,” which indicates that she attempted compliance this morning “despite 13 suffering from the COVID-19 virus” by attempting to deliver the records to the address in 14 the subpoena, but “the party identified for delivering the documents is no longer there,” 15 such that Ms. Amann mailed the records instead. (Doc. 19.) 16 Despite Ms. Amann’s attempt at compliance with the subpoena, she will still need 17 to show cause why she should not be held in civil contempt for violating the Court’s 18 orders. If she is able to demonstrate that she has finally complied with the subpoena, no 19 coercive measures will be necessary. However, “[c]ivil contempt sanctions . . . are 20 employed for two purposes: to coerce the [contemnor] into compliance with the court’s 21 order, and to compensate the complainant for losses sustained.” Whittaker Corp. v. 22 Execuair Corp., 953 F.2d 510, 517 (9th Cir. 1992) (emphasis added). Thus, even if Ms. 23 Amann establishes that coercive measures are no longer necessary, compensatory 24 measures remain at issue. 25 Ms. Amann is apparently well enough to attempt delivery of the materials, and 26 considering the seriousness of the conduct at issue and the hardship a continuance would 27 cause the Utah AG, the Court will not continue tomorrow’s hearing. Ms. Amann may 28 participate in person, masked, or she may choose to participate telephonically. Ms. 1 || Amann shall notify the Court via email (at Lanza_Chambers @azd.uscourts.gov) by 4:00 2|| p.m. today how she plans to participate. 3 Accordingly, 4 IT IS ORDERED that Ms. Amann’s requests to continue tomorrow’s hearing 5|| (Doc. 17) or vacate it (Doc. 19) are denied. 6 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Ms. Amann shall notify the Court via email 7\| (at Lanza_Chambers @azd.uscourts.gov) by 4:00 p.m. today as to whether she will 8 || participate at tomorrow’s hearing in person or telephonically. 9 Dated this 14th day of November, 2022. 10 11 Lom ee” 12 f CC —— Dominic W. Lanza 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-