Opinion
Lead No. 1:18-cv-00307-DAD-JLT No.: 1:18-cv-1526-DAD-JLT No.: 1:19-cv-01302-DAD-JLT
02-26-2021
JAMES RAYMOND, Plaintiff, v. WARREN MARTIN, Defendant. INGRID CRAWFORD SMITH, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF BAKERSFIELD, et al., Defendants. A.J.C., Plaintiff, v. CITY OF BAKERSFIELD, et al., Defendants.
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO JOIN HEIRS
(Doc. No. 17) (Doc. No 10.)
The three above-listed actions are brought by the purported heirs of decedent August Joshua Crawford, an individual that plaintiffs claim was fatally shot by Bakersfield officers on November 4, 2017. (Crawford Smith v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:18-cv-01526-DAD-JLT (E.D. Cal. Mar. 14, 2019) ("Crawford Smith"), Doc. No. 1 at ¶¶ 14-18; A.J.C. v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:19-cv-01302-DAD-JLT (E.D. Cal. Jan. 22, 2020) ("A.J.C."), Doc. No. 1 at ¶¶ 13-17.) On March 14, 2019 and January 22, 2020, the actions were consolidated for all purposes, including trial, by order of the assigned magistrate judge. (Crawford Smith, Doc. No. 26; A.J.C., Doc. No. 20.)
Pending before the court are two motions to join all heirs of decedent Augustus Joshua Crawford brought by defendants City of Bakersfield, Bakersfield Police Department, Chief Lyle Martin, and Warren Martin filed on March 5, 2019 and November 26, 2019. (Crawford Smith, Doc. No. 17; A.J.C., Doc. No. 10.) On April 2, 2019, plaintiffs Ingrid Crawford Smith and A.C. filed a statement of non-opposition to the motion. (Crawford Smith, Doc. No. 28.) Plaintiff A.J.C failed to respond, and the time to do so has long since passed. (A.J.C., Doc. No. 16.)
Defendants Chief Lyle Martin and Warren Martin are parties only to the motion filed in Crawford Smith v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:18-cv-01526-DAD-JLT.
Defendant maintains that all heirs of decedent Augustus Joshua Crawford must be joined to this suit because California law permits only one wrongful death action to be pursued. (Crawford Smith, Doc. No. 17-1 at 5-8; A.J.C., Doc. No. 10-1 at 5-8.) The court previously denied without prejudice a nearly identical motion for joinder brought by defendant Warren Martin in the lead case finding that neither mandatory nor permissive joinder was warranted at that time because, inter alia, only one of the known heirs had filed a claim, and that action did not contain a state law wrongful death claim. See Raymond v. Martin, No. 1:18-cv-00307-DAD-JLT, 2018 WL 4560686, at *3 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 20, 2018). Subsequently, two additional actions were filed by alleged heirs of decedent Augustus Joshua Crawford, which brought claims for wrongful ///// ///// ///// death under California state law. While these motions have been pending, all three actions brought by purported heirs of decedent Augustus Joshua Crawford were consolidated. (Crawford Smith, Doc. No. 26; A.J.C., Doc. No. 20.) Given the current consolidated posture of the actions, the court finds no further action is necessary and the two pending motions for joinder are denied as having been rendered moot.
The court apologizes to the parties and to counsel for the court's lengthy delay in issuing this order. This court's overwhelming caseload has been well publicized and the long-standing lack of judicial resources in this district has reached crisis proportion. Unfortunately, that situation sometimes results in a submitted matter being overlooked for a period of time and that occurred with respect to this motion. --------
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above,
1. The motion to join heirs (Doc. No. 17) filed in Crawford Smith v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:18-cv-01526-DAD-JLT, and the motion to join heirs (Doc. No. 10) filed in A.J.C. v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:19-cv-01302-DAD-JLT, are denied as moot; andIT IS SO ORDERED.
2. The member cases, Crawford Smith v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:18-cv-01526-DAD-JLT, and A.J.C. v. City of Bakersfield, No. 1:19-cv-01302-DAD-JLT, are to remain administratively closed while the consolidated action proceeds as Raymond v. Martin, No. 1:18-cv-00307-DAD-JLT.
Dated: February 26 , 2021
/s/_________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE