Opinion
1:17-cv-01769-DAD-SAB (PC)
07-20-2021
CLAUDE CARR, Plaintiff, v. TED PRUITT, Defendant.
Hearing: February 28, 2022
SECOND SCHEDULING ORDER ORDER DIRECTING CLERK'S OFFICE TO SEND LOCAL RULE 281 TO PLAINTIFF
Plaintiff Claude Carr is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
On July 19, 2021, the Court denied both Plaintiff's and Defendant's motions for summary judgment. (ECF No. 91.) Accordingly, this action is ready to proceed to jury trial on Plaintiff's deliberate indifference claim against Defendant Ted Pruitt. Pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court now sets a further schedule for this litigation.
The parties are required to file pretrial statements in accordance with the schedule set forth herein. In addition to the matters already required to be addressed in the pretrial statement in accordance with Local Rule 281, Plaintiff will be required to make a particularized showing in order to obtain the attendance of witnesses. The procedures and requirements for making such a showing are outlined in detail below. Plaintiff is advised that failure to comply with the procedures set forth below may result in the preclusion of any and all witnesses named in his pretrial statement.
At the trial of this case, Plaintiff must be prepared to introduce evidence to prove each of the alleged facts that support the claims raised in the lawsuit. In general, there are two kinds of trial evidence: (1) exhibits and (2) the testimony of witnesses. It is Plaintiff's responsibility to produce all of the evidence to prove his case, whether that evidence is in the form of exhibits or witness testimony. If Plaintiff wants to call witnesses to testify, he must follow certain procedures to ensure that the witnesses will be at the trial and available to testify.
1. Procedures for Obtaining Attendance of Incarcerated Witnesses Who Agree to Testify Voluntarily - An incarcerated witness who agrees voluntarily to attend trial to give testimony cannot come to court unless the Court orders the warden or other custodian to permit the witness to be transported to court. The Court will not issue such an order unless it is satisfied that the prospective witness has actual knowledge of relevant facts.
A party intending to introduce the testimony of incarcerated witnesses who have agreed voluntarily to attend the trial must serve and file concurrent with the pretrial statement a written motion for a court order requiring that such witnesses be brought to court at the time of trial. The motion must: (1) state the name, address, and prison identification number of each such witness; and (2) be accompanied by declarations showing that each witness is willing to testify and that each witness has actual knowledge of relevant facts. The motion should be entitled “Motion for Attendance of Incarcerated Witnesses.”
The willingness of the prospective witness can be shown in one of two ways: (1) the party himself can swear by declaration under penalty of perjury that the prospective witness has informed the party that he or she is willing to testify voluntarily without being subpoenaed, in which declaration the party must state when and where the prospective witness informed the party of this willingness; or (2) the party can serve and file a declaration, signed under penalty of perjury by the prospective witness, in which the witness states that he or she is willing to testify without being subpoenaed.
The prospective witness's actual knowledge of relevant facts can be shown in one of two ways: (1) if the party has actual firsthand knowledge that the prospective witness was an eyewitness or an ear-witness to the relevant facts (e.g., if an incident occurred in Plaintiff's cell and, at the time, Plaintiff saw that a cellmate was present and observed the incident, Plaintiff may swear to the cellmate's ability to testify), the party himself can swear by declaration under penalty of perjury that the prospective witness has actual knowledge; or (2) the party can serve and file a declaration signed under penalty of perjury by the prospective witness in which the witness describes the relevant facts to which the prospective witness was an eye or ear witness. Whether the declaration is made by the party or by the prospective witness, it must be specific about the incident, when and where it occurred, who was present, and how the prospective witness happened to be in a position to see or to hear what occurred at the time it occurred.
The Court will review and rule on the motion for attendance of incarcerated witnesses, specifying which prospective witnesses must be brought to court. Subsequently, the Court will issue the order necessary to cause the witness's custodian to bring the witness to court.
Motions for the attendance of incarcerated witnesses, if any, must be filed on or before December 20, 2021. Oppositions, if any, must be filed on or before January 10, 2022.
2. Procedures for Obtaining Attendance of Incarcerated Witnesses Who Refuse to Testify Voluntarily - If a party seeks to obtain the attendance of incarcerated witnesses who refuse to testify voluntarily, the party should submit with his pretrial statement a motion for the attendance of such witnesses. Such motion should be in the form described above. In addition, the party must indicate in the motion that the incarcerated witnesses are not willing to testify voluntarily.
3. Procedures for Obtaining Attendance of Unincarcerated Witnesses Who Agree to Testify Voluntarily - It is the responsibility of the party who has secured an unincarcerated witness's voluntary attendance to notify the witness of the time and date of trial. No. action need be sought or obtained from the Court.
4. Procedures for Obtaining Attendance of Unincarcerated Witnesses Who Refuse to Testify Voluntarily - If a prospective witness is not incarcerated, and he or she refuses to testify voluntarily, the witness must be served with a subpoena. Fed.R.Civ.P. 45. In addition, the party seeking the witness's presence must tender an appropriate sum of money for the witness. Id. In the case of an unincarcerated witness, the appropriate sum of money is the daily witness fee of $40.00 plus the witness's travel expenses. 28 U.S.C. § 1821.
If Plaintiff wishes to obtain the attendance of one or more unincarcerated witnesses who refuse to testify voluntarily, Plaintiff must first notify the Court in writing of the name and location of each unincarcerated witness. The Court will calculate the travel expense for each unincarcerated witness and notify Plaintiff of the amount(s). Plaintiff must then, for each witness, submit a money order made payable to the witness for the full amount of the witness's travel expenses plus the daily witness fee of $40.00. The subpoena will not be served upon the unincarcerated witness by the United States Marshal unless the money order is tendered to the Court. Because no statute authorizes the use of public funds for these expenses in civil cases, the tendering of witness fees and travel expenses is required even if the party was granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
If Plaintiff wishes to have the Marshal serve any unincarcerated witnesses who refuse to testify voluntarily, Plaintiff must submit the money orders to the Court no later than December 20, 2021. In order to ensure timely submission of the money orders, Plaintiff must notify the Court of the names and locations of his witnesses, in compliance with step one, on or before November 29, 2021.
The parties are advised that failure to file pretrial statements as required by this order may result in the imposition of appropriate sanctions, which may include dismissal of the action or entry of default.
As stated in part in the February 4, 2020 order, the following is important information about scheduling and trailing cases and the ongoing judicial emergency in the Eastern District of California:
The judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California have long labored under one of the heaviest caseloads in the nation even when operating with a full complement of six authorized District Judges. Each of those six District Judges has regularly carried a caseload double the nationwide average caseload for District Judges. Even while laboring under this burden, the judges of this court have annually ranked among the top 10 districts in the country in cases terminated per judgeship for over 20 years.
On February 4, 2020, District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill assumed inactive Senior status. As a result, District Judge Dale A. Drozd now presides over all criminal and civil cases previously assigned to Judge O'Neill as well as those already pending before him. Until two candidates are nominated and confirmed to fill this court's two vacant authorized district judgeships, this situation can only be expected to get progressively worse.
In the two caseloads over which District Judge Dale A. Drozd presides for the duration of the judicial emergency, there are currently trials scheduled through the end of 2021. The law requires that the Court give any criminal trial priority over civil trials or any other matter. The Court cannot give advance notice of which cases will trail or for how long because the Court does not know which cases actually will go to trial or precisely how long each will last. Given the enormous criminal caseload that is pending before District Judge Dale A. Drozd and based upon the reasonable assumption that at least some of those criminal cases will proceed to trial, it is unlikely that those civil cases will be able to proceed to trial on the currently scheduled date.
One alternative is for the parties to consent to a United States Magistrate Judge conducting all proceedings, including trial and entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The magistrate judges of this court are highly skilled, experienced trial judges. Moreover, because magistrate judges cannot preside over felony criminal trials, trial dates in civil cases can be set before the assigned magistrate judge with a strong likelihood that the trial will commenced on the date scheduled. Accordingly, the Court HEREBY ORDERS as follows:
1. This matter is set for telephonic trial confirmation hearing before District Judge Dale A. Drozd on February 28, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 5;
2. The jury trial for this case will be scheduled in due course;
3. Counsel for Defendant is required to arrange for the participation of Plaintiff in the telephonic trial confirmation hearing and to initiate the telephonic hearing at 1-877-402-9757, access code 6966236;
4. Plaintiff shall serve and file a pretrial statement as described in this order on or before December 20, 2021;
5. Defendant shall serve and file a pretrial statement as described in this order on or before January 10, 2022;
6. In addition to electronically filing their pretrial statement, Defendant shall e-mail the pretrial statement to: dadorders@caed.uscourts.gov;
7. If Plaintiff intends to call incarcerated witnesses at time of trial, Plaintiff shall serve and file a motion for attendance of incarcerated witnesses as described in this order on or before December 20, 2021;
8. The opposition to the motion for the attendance of incarcerated witnesses, if any, shall be filed on or before January 10, 2022;
9. If Plaintiff wishes to obtain the attendance of unincarcerated witnesses who refuse to testify voluntarily, Plaintiff must notify the Court of their names and locations on or before November 29, 2021, and Plaintiff must submit the money orders, as described in subsection 4 of this order, to the Court on or before December 20, 2021; and
10. The Clerk's Office shall send Plaintiff a copy of Local Rule 281.
IT IS SO ORDERED.