Opinion
1:19-cv-00462-DAD-EPG (PC)
06-16-2021
DEVONTE B. HARRIS, Plaintiff, v. K. KYLE, et al., Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S
REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO
FILE MOTION TO COMPEL AND
OPPOSITION TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF No. 103)
Plaintiff Devonte B. Harris (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion dated June 8, 2021, and filed on June 14, 2021, requesting to modify the Scheduling Order in this case to extend the motion to compel deadline as well as a sixty-day extension of time to file an opposition to Defendants' motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 103.)
In his motion, Plaintiff requests to extend the motion to compel deadline because it expired before the non-expert discovery deadline. (ECF No. 103 at 2.) Plaintiff first attempted to arrange a deposition of Defendant Kyle on December 22, 2020, and the Court had to intervene to facilitate Defendant Kyle's deposition on March 22, 2021. (Id.) Additionally, Plaintiff did not receive a copy of the deposition transcript until May 9, 2021, and the law library “takes exception to copying transcripts” so Plaintiff is working on an alternative way to copy and submit his motion to compel. (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff's motion to compel is instrumental to opposing Defendants' summary judgment motion. (Id.) Defendants' motion consists of hundreds of pages and Plaintiff's opposition will also consist of hundreds of pages, which Plaintiff needs more time to marshal. (Id.) Further, the Scheduling Order does not specify Plaintiff's deadline to respond and he is uncertain what it is. (Id. at 4.) Therefore, Plaintiff requests a thirty-day extension of time to file a motion to compel and a sixty-day extension of time to file an opposition to Defendants' summary judgment motion. (Id.)
The Court finds good cause for and will grant Plaintiff's motion. As to Plaintiff's request to modify the Scheduling Order, the Court will extend the motion to compel deadline to July 23, 2021 only as to a motion to compel regarding Defendant Kyle's deposition. However, Plaintiff's motion to compel regarding Defendant Kyle's deposition shall not exceed ten (10) pages in length. The Court will deny the motion if Plaintiff files excessive briefing and exhibits.
The Court will also grant Plaintiff's request for an extension of time to file an opposition to Defendants' motion for summary judgment. On June 14, 2021, the Court entered an order directing Plaintiff to file an opposition to the motion for summary judgment within thirty days of service of the order. (ECF No. 102.) The Court will therefore extend the deadline for Plaintiff to file his opposition an additional thirty days to August 16, 2021.
It appears the Court's order was entered after Plaintiff mailed his motion but before it was received and filed.
As to Plaintiff's statement that he was uncertain when his opposition is due, Plaintiff is reminded that Local Rule 230(1) governs motions in pro se prisoner actions and provides that oppositions to motions are due not more than twenty-one days after service of the motion. See E.D. Cal. L.R. 230(1).
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's Request for Extension of Time to File Motion to Compel and Opposition to Summary Judgment (ECF No. 103) is GRANTED;
2. The Scheduling Order (ECF No. 37), as previously modified (ECF Nos. 43, 48, 73), is further modified and the motion to compel deadline, currently set for January 22, 2021, is extended to July 23, 2021 only as it relates to Defendant Kyle's deposition;
3. Plaintiff's motion to compel regarding Defendant Kyle's deposition shall not exceed ten (10) pages in length; and
4. The deadline for Plaintiff to file an opposition to Defendants' motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 99) is extended to August 16, 2021.
IT IS SO ORDERED.