Opinion
CASE NO. CIV S-07-2291 LKK GGH P
10-17-2011
LEVON GRAHAM, Plaintiff, v. D. L. RUNNELS, ET AL., Defendants.
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
James L. Day (Bar No. 197158)
Brian D. Berry (Bar No. 229893)
Brendan K. Kelleher (Bar No. 275883)
Attorneys for Plaintiff Levon Graham
ORDER REGARDING LEVON GRAHAM'S RECEIPT OF TELEPHONE CALLS FROM COUNSEL
Plaintiff's counsel has requested that the court order Salinas Valley State Prison ("SVSP") to provide five, confidential telephonic discussions between counsel and client for purposes of preparing an opposition to summary judgment pursuant to the following schedule:
• Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.;Counsel asks that each call be for a proposed maximum 90 minute period. The remaining defendant doctors have not responded to oppose this request, although the logistics of such would not appear to be within their purview. The litigation coordinator has refused to arrange these telephone conferences without court order (she permitted one already).
• Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.;
• Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.;
• Monday, December 5, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.; and
• Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.
In the absence of a response from defendants or the litigation coordinator, the court will not deny all requests. However, it does appear that the amount of requests are excessive in that each request will require the prison to interrupt normal programming for these special telephone calls. Moreover, plaintiff's counsel does not indicate why confidential mail cannot suffice for some contact. Finally, a good deal of the opposition will not center around plaintiff's allegations, but will involve the medical record and any experts who opine on such.
For the following reasons:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Salinas Valley State Prison shall provide Plaintiff, Levon Graham (P74846), confidential telephone access on the following dates and times for purposes of receiving telephone calls from counsel that shall not exceed ninety (90) minutes in duration:
• Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.;
• Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.; and
• Monday, December 5, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.; and
If despite good faith efforts to comply with this schedule SVSP cannot make Mr. Graham available for any of these scheduled calls, SVSP must provide counsel with reasonable advance notice of the conflict and cooperate with counsel to reschedule the call to be held within 24 hours of the scheduled time.
Plaintiff's counsel shall serve this order on the litigation coordinator.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
GREGORY G. HOLLOWS
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Grah2291.ord