Opinion
1:22-cv-01208-JLT-BAM (PC)
06-06-2023
TOMMY LEE THOMPSON, Plaintiff, v. GARCIA-FERNANDEZ, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' RQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO COMPLAINT (ECF NO. 27)
BARBARA A. MCAULIFFE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Plaintiff Tommy Lee Thompson (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action proceeds against Defendants E. Garcia-Fernandez, Bravo, Guerro, C. Castillo, Gonzales, and Espanoza for excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Pursuant to the Court's February 28, 2023, order finding service of the complaint appropriate and directing electronic service, Defendants E. Garcia-Fernandez, Bravo, Guerro, C. Castillo, and Gonzales' (“Defendants”) answer or other responsive pleading is due on or before June 5, 2023. (See ECF No. 18.)
Defendant Espanoza could not be identified for service of process and on May 24, 2023 the Court issued findings and recommendations that Defendant Espanoza be dismissed from this action, without prejudice, for failure to serve process pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m). (ECF No. 26.)
Currently before the Court is Defendants' first request for extension of time to respond to complaint, filed June 5, 2023. (ECF No. 27.) Plaintiff has not had the opportunity to respond to the motion, but the Court finds a response unnecessary. The motion is deemed submitted. Local Rule 203(1).
In support of the motion, counsel for Defendants declares that upon being assigned to this case, Plaintiff's medical and central file records, as well as other relevant records, were requested and received in March 2023. (ECF No. 27.) However, those records are several thousand pages in length, and the task of reviewing all of the records, balanced against the demands of counsel's existing caseload, will be a time-consuming task. Counsel therefore requests a sixty-day extension of time, up to and including August 4, 2023 to review the relevant records, determine a course of action, and prepare and file Defendants' response to Plaintiff's complaint. (Id.)
The Court, having considered the request, finds good cause to grant the requested extension of time. Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(b). The Court further finds that Plaintiff will not be prejudiced by the brief extension requested here.
Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED as follows:
1. Defendants' first request for extension of time to file a response to Plaintiff's complaint, (ECF No. 27), is GRANTED; and
2. Defendants E. Garcia-Fernandez, Bravo, Guerro, C. Castillo, and Gonzales shall file and serve a response to the complaint on or before August 4, 2023.
IT IS SO ORDERED.