Opinion
2:21-cv-11645
10-20-2022
ERIC MONTANEZ, Plaintiff, v. ERNESTO SALINAS, BRANDON HULL, and AUSTIN MYERS, Defendants.
Terrence G. Berg, District Judge.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR LEAVE TO TAKE PLAINTIFF'S DEPOSITION (ECF NO. 21)
KIMBERLY G. ALTMAN, United States Magistrate Judge .
I.
This is a civil rights complaint brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff Eric Montanez is a prisoner proceeding pro se against the three remaining defendants with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). (ECF Nos. 1, 6). All pretrial matters were referred to the undersigned. (ECF No. 7). Before the Court is the MDOC Defendants' motion for leave under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2)(B) to take the deposition of Montanez, who is currently incarcerated. (ECF No. 21). For the reasons that follow, the motion will be GRANTED.
II.
Rule 30 provides broad access to persons for depositions; Rule 30(a)(2)(B), however, requires a party to obtain leave of court where, as here, “the deponent is confined in prison.” In determining whether it is appropriate to grant leave to conduct such a deposition, Rule 30(a)(2) provides that “the court must grant leave to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(1) and (2)[.]” According to Rule 26(b)(1), the scope of discovery is as follows: “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties' relative access to relevant information, the parties' resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.” Thus, [t]he “language of Rule 30(a)(2) requires the Court to authorize a deposition unless the deponent is seeking privileged, irrelevant, or unnecessarily costly information.” McGinnis v. Huq, 2017 WL 1044989, at *1 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 20, 2017) (emphasis in original).
Considering these factors, Defendants' request to depose Montanez is consistent with the applicable Federal Rules and otherwise appropriate. Accordingly, Defendants' motion is GRANTED. While it appears that Montanez is currently confined at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, defendants may depose him at whichever facility he is confined to on the date of the deposition.
SO ORDERED.