Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-6216 SECTION A(4)
10-06-2015
MARQUETTE TRANSPORTATION CO. GULF-INLAND, LLC v. M/V CHEMBULK WESTPORT, ET AL.
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court are a Motion for Appeal/Review of Magistrate Judge Decision to District Court (Rec. Doc. 135) filed by Weeks Marine, Inc. Mi-Das Line, S.A. opposes the motion (Rec. Doc. 140); and a Motion for Review of Magistrate Judge's Decision (Rec. Doc. 141) filed by Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC. Mi-Das Line, S.A. opposes the motion (Rec. Doc. 152). The motions, submitted to the Court on September 23, 2015 and October 7, 2015, respectively, are before the Court on the briefs without oral argument.
Weeks challenges Magistrate Judge Roby's August 20, 2015 Order (Rec. Doc. 124) granting Mi-Das' motion to compel (Rec. Doc. 100). Mi-Das filed the motion to compel Weeks to permit an operational inspection of the M/V CAPTAIN PETE. Magistrate Judge Roby concluded that the inspection should be allowed because it was relevant in light of contradictory evidence regarding the identity of the vessel that actually caused the wake that allegedly capsized the KRISTEN ALEXIS. (Rec. Doc. 124, Order at 7). According to Weeks, the evidence in the case definitively establishes that it was the M/T CHEMBULK WESTPORT that caused the wake, not Weeks's vessel.
Marquette challenges Magistrate Judge Roby's September 3, 2015 Order (Rec. Doc. 137) finding Marquette's motion to compel (Rec. Doc. 123) to be moot in light of the arguments of counsel.
The Court considers these challenges to the rulings in the context of Rule 72 which requires the Court to modify or set aside any part of an order that is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 72(a); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). Neither party has demonstrated that Magistrate Judge Roby's ruling was clearly erroneous or contrary to law.
Further, it has not escaped the Court's notice that four motions to compel have already been filed and decided during the course of this litigation (Rec. Docs. 39, 73, 100, 123), and a new motion to compel is pending for submission on October 14, 2015 (Rec. Doc. 151). Of the four motions to compel that have already been decided, three of them have been appealed to this Court by the losing party (Rec. Docs. 50, 135, 141). None of these appeals have demonstrated that the magistrate judge's rulings were clearly erroneous or contrary to law. --------
Accordingly, and for the foregoing reasons;
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Appeal/Review of Magistrate Judge Decision to District Court (Rec. Doc. 135) filed by Weeks Marine, Inc. is DENIED;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion for Review of Magistrate Judge's Decision (Rec. Doc. 141) filed by Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC. is DENIED.
October 6, 2015
/s/_________
JUDGE JAY C. ZAINEY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE