Opinion
5:22-cv-00034-WLH-SPx
04-05-2024
OSCAR CORONA, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF FONTANA, et al., Defendants.
ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE ON MOTION FOR SANCTIONS
HON. WESLEY L. HSU UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Court has reviewed Plaintiff's motion for sanctions, the memoranda and evidence submitted in support of and in opposition to the motion, and the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. Further, the Court has engaged in a de novo review of those portions of the Report to which Plaintiff has objected. The Court accepts the findings and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge.
With respect to Plaintiff's objections to the Report and Recommendation, the Court finds Plaintiff's arguments unavailing. First, Judge Pym did not error in declining to apply the mailbox rule, with respect to Plaintiff's request for spoliation sanctions. The Court concurs with Judge Pym's assessment that the mailbox rule likely does not apply in this case, and absent controlling caselaw requiring application of this rule in the context of spoilation sanctions, the Court declines to do so. Second, the Court agrees with Judge Pym's assessment of Defendants' discovery compliance with respect to its interrogatory responses and finds that the recommended sanctions are appropriate under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for sanctions (Docket Nos. 161, 162) is granted in part and denied in part as set forth in the Report and Recommendation. Defendant City of Fontana is precluded from introducing into evidence any information or evidence regarding traffic stops based on suspicion of a stolen vehicle or of a suspected stolen vehicle that was not disclosed in response to Plaintiff's discovery requests. Defendant Officers Christopher Gonzalez, Jacob Gregg, Matt Kraut, and Kyle Slusser are precluded from testifying about their experiences conducting any traffic stop of a suspected stolen vehicle, other than the stop of Plaintiff.