Opinion
CV-23-00181-TUC-AMM
08-14-2024
John J Christenson, Plaintiff, v. Alice Schroder Warren, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
HONORABLE ANGELA M. MARTINEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Pending before the Court are three motions: (1) Plaintiff's First Motion for Sanction of Defendants and Defendants' Counsel (doc. 118); (2) Defendants' Motion for Clarification (doc. 120); and (3) Plaintiff's Discovery Motion (doc. 123).
The parties have had ongoing discovery disputes related to Defendants' nonproduction of various CT scans, x-rays, and MRI imaging related to Plaintiff's medical care. Plaintiff cannot possess the original imaging discs for prison security reasons. Upon Order of the Court, Defendants sent Plaintiff paper copies of the images and agreed to send the original imaging discs to a third party of Plaintiff's choosing. (See doc. 122.) These actions satisfy the Order to Show Cause (doc. 119) and the Court finds that Defendants are in compliance with the Court's June 11, 2024 Order (doc. 96), provided that they immediately follow through with mailing copies of the imaging from St. Mary's Hospital to Plaintiff as soon as Defendants receive the disc. (See doc. 122 at 2, n.1.) Accordingly, sanctions are not appropriate at this time.
Plaintiff asks the Court to order Defendants to provide paper copies of the requested images in a different format. (Doc. 123.) Defendants mailed a PDF of 500+ images to Plaintiff, with nine images per page. (Doc. 120 at 2.) Plaintiff argues that the images are tiny, unreadable, and useless. (Doc. 123 at 2.) Plaintiff attached a sample page of the images with his motion. (Doc. 123-1.) Although slightly grainy, the images are readable to the Court. Without more information on Plaintiff's intended use and why the images as provided are insufficient, there is no basis to find that these images do not meet Plaintiff's needs. Defendants have made the imaging discs available and provided paper copies of the images directly to Plaintiff. Requiring Defendants to also provide 500+ images “printed one per page, single sided” would be unduly burdensome under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). If Plaintiff prefers larger copies of the images, he is free to coordinate with his chosen third party to obtain prints from the imaging discs in his desired sizes and quantity.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions (doc. 118) is denied without prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Clarification (doc. 120) is denied as moot.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Discovery Motion (doc. 123) is denied without prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants shall file either (1) a certification to the Court that all imaging has been provided to Plaintiff and all imaging discs have been provided to Plaintiff's chosen third party; or (2) a status update with the Court every seven (7) days from the date of this Order, detailing all steps taken to comply with the Court's Orders, until Defendants have provided all imaging to Plaintiff as directed.