Opinion
2:19-cv-1663 TLN KJN P
09-01-2021
CHARLES HEAD, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff is a federal prisoner, proceeding without counsel, with this civil action. Pending before the court is plaintiff's motion to lift the stay of discovery, reinstate plaintiff's motions to compel and for the court to issue a scheduling order. (ECF No. 73.) The undersigned addresses plaintiff's motion herein.
On July 29, 2020, defendant Shelton filed a waiver of service. (ECF No. 26.) On August 5, 2020, Magistrate Judge Delaney issued a discovery and scheduling order setting the discovery cut-off date for November 30, 2020. (ECF No. 27.)
On October 15, 2020, this action was reassigned to the undersigned. (ECF No. 37.)
On September 14, 2020, plaintiff filed a motion to compel. (ECF No. 28.) On October 2, 2020, defendant Shelton filed an opposition to plaintiff's motion to compel filed September 14, 2020. (ECF No. 32.) On November 2, 2020, plaintiff filed a second motion to compel. (ECF No. 42.) On November 16, 2020, defendant Shelton filed an opposition to plaintiff's motion to compel filed November 2, 2020. (ECF No. 44.) On November 23, 2020, plaintiff filed a third motion to compel. (ECF No. 46.) On December 10, 2020, defendant Shelton filed an opposition to the motion to compel filed November 23, 2020. (ECF No. 48.)
On December 30, 2020, the undersigned granted defendant Shelton's October 30, 2020 motion to stay discovery pending the filing of a motion to dismiss plaintiff's amended complaint. (ECF Nos. 41, 52.) In the December 30, 2020 order, the undersigned vacated plaintiff's pending motions to compel. (ECF No. 52.)
On April 2, 2020, the undersigned granted defendant Shelton's motion to stay discovery pending the disposition of defendant's motion to dismiss the amended complaint. (ECF Nos. 55, 60.)
On August 2, 2021, the Honorable Troy L. Nunley granted defendant Shelton's motion to dismiss plaintiff's state law claims and denied defendant Shelton's motion to dismiss plaintiff's Wiretap Act claim. (ECF No. 71.) On August 31, 2021, defendant Shelton filed an answer. (ECF No. 74.)
Because defendant Shelton's motion to dismiss is resolved, the stay of discovery is lifted and plaintiff's motions to compel are reinstated. The undersigned will issue further orders addressing the motions to compel. However, for the following reasons, discovery is not reopened.
The undersigned first stayed discovery on December 30, 2020. Plaintiff filed three motions to compel before the November 30, 2020 deadline and did not request a stay of discovery. For these reasons, there is no good cause to reopen discovery for plaintiff to serve defendant Shelton with additional discovery requests.
Defendant Shelton filed the first motion to stay discovery on October 30, 2020, i.e., before the November 30, 2020 discovery deadline. However, the August 5, 2020 scheduling order provided that all discovery requests pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 31, 33, 34 or 36 were to be served no later than sixty days prior to November 30, 2020, i.e., October 1, 2020. Therefore, the deadline for serving plaintiff with discovery requests passed when defendant filed the motion to stay. Accordingly, discovery is not reopened for defendant Shelton to serve plaintiff with discovery requests pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 31, 33, 34 or 36. However, defendant Shelton may file a motion to compel based on timely served discovery requests or defendant Shelton may conduct discovery other than pursuant to these rules. Accordingly, defendant Shelton is granted twenty-one days to file a motion to conduct discovery other than pursuant to these rules or a motion to compel.
On June 28, 2021, defendant Endrizzi filed an answer. (ECF No. 70.) On August 17, 2021, the undersigned issued a discovery and scheduling order. (ECF No. 72.) The undersigned clarifies that the December 17, 2021 discovery deadline set in the August 17, 2021 order applies to discovery between plaintiff and defendant Endrizzi. The undersigned clarifies that the March 11, 2022 dispositive motion deadline set in the August 17, 2021 order applies to all parties.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiffs August 27, 2021 motion to lift the stay of discovery, reinstate the motions to compel and to issue a scheduling order (ECF No. 73) is granted;
2. Plaintiffs motions to compel (ECF Nos. 28, 42, 46) are reinstated;
3. Discovery is closed between plaintiff and defendant Shelton; as discussed above, defendant Shelton is granted twenty-one days from the date of this order to file a motion to conduct discovery or a motion to compel;
4. The December 17, 2021 discovery deadline applies to discovery between plaintiff and defendant Endrizzi; the March 11, 2022 dispositive motion deadline applies to all parties.