Opinion
Case No. 2:14-cv-00889-RFB-CWH
12-28-2016
STANLEY RIMER, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF NEVADA, ex rel. NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al. Defendants.
ADAM PAUL LAXALT Attorney General JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132) Senior Deputy Attorney General State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Litigation Public Safety Division 555 E. Washington Ave, Suite 3900 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 (702) 486-3177 (Telephone) (702) 486-3773 (Facsimile) Email: jfrost@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants Dwight Neven, Harold Wickham, Jennifer Nash, Timothy Filson, Frank Dreesen, Jerry Howell, Joseph Hanson, Romeo Aranas, Cynthia Sablica, and Linda Adams
ADAM PAUL LAXALT
Attorney General
JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132)
Senior Deputy Attorney General
State of Nevada
Office of the Attorney General
Bureau of Litigation
Public Safety Division
555 E. Washington Ave, Suite 3900
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
(702) 486-3177 (Telephone)
(702) 486-3773 (Facsimile)
Email: jfrost@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants Dwight Neven,
Harold Wickham, Jennifer Nash, Timothy Filson,
Frank Dreesen, Jerry Howell, Joseph Hanson,
Romeo Aranas, Cynthia Sablica, and Linda Adams
DEFENDANTS' UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND REMAINING SCHEDULING DEADLINES
(FIRST REQUEST)
Defendants Dwight Neven, Harold Wickham, Jennifer Nash, Timothy Filson, Frank Dreesen, Jerry Howell, Joseph Hanson, Romeo Aranas, Cynthia Sablica, and Linda Adams, by and through counsel, Adam Paul Laxalt, Attorney General for the State of Nevada, and Jared M. Frost, Senior Deputy Attorney General, hereby move for a thirty (30) day extension of the remaining non-discovery scheduling deadlines in this matter. This unopposed motion is made and based on the following points and authorities, the attached declaration, the pleadings and papers on file, and any additional evidence the Court deems appropriate to consider. ///
I. Background
Plaintiff is an inmate in the lawful custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections. Plaintiff initiated this action by filing an inmate civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983. See ECF No. 6 (first-amended complaint filed June 30, 2014). Plaintiff's Amended Complaint alleges six (6) causes of action against twenty-four (24) named defendants. On July 21, 2014, the Court issued its screening order and dismissed Counts IV and V, and further dismissed the institutional Defendants. ECF No. 9 at 11. In its screening order, the Court interpreted Counts I, II, and III as a single claim for deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Id. at 6-7.
On February 2, 2015, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint in part. ECF No. 9. On March 10, 2015, this Court issued a scheduling order. ECF No. 53. The scheduling order provided that all discovery must be completed by June 7, 2015. Id. at 1-2.
On August 3, 2015, the Court issued an order dismissing Defendants Chang and Manley, and by extension Count VI. ECF No. 195; see also ECF No. 9 at 11 (allowing Count VI to proceed only against Defendant "Nurse Nichole [Manley]").
On April 21, 2016, the Court issued an order granting Defendants' partial motion to dismiss. ECF No. 208. Pursuant to the Court's order, Defendants Lee, Sowell, Rainone, Leavitt, Cortez-Masto, Sandoval, Miller, Cox, and McDaniel were dismissed with prejudice. Id. at 9.
On May 5, 2016, Defendants Neven, Wickham, Nash, Filson, Dreesen, Howell, Hanson, Aranas, Sablica, and Adams filed an Answer. ECF No. 209.
On May 11, 2016, Defendants filed a motion for a tiered scheduling order. ECF No. 210. On August 16, 2016, the Court granted Defendants' motion for a tired scheduling order. ECF No. 222. Pursuant to the Court's order, the limited discovery permitted by the tiered scheduling order was to close by November 17, 2016, and dispositive motions are due December 28, 2016. Id. On November 28, 2016, the Court denied Plaintiff's motions to extend the discovery period and to enlarge the number of requests for admissions permitted by the Court's scheduling order. ECF No. 230. This motion for an extension of the remaining scheduling deadlines follows.
II. ARGUMENT
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(1)(A), the Court may extend the time to perform an act within a specified time for good cause shown. Defendants submit that their request to extend the remaining non-discovery scheduling deadlines by 30 days is supported by good cause here. The undersigned has been working diligently on a dispositive motion, and had hoped to complete the motion by December 23, 2016, prior to taking planned leave during the week of December 26. Exhibit 1 (Declaration of Counsel). However, the undersigned has been unable to complete the motion due to his responsibilities in other cases and because of the significant number of Defendants, records, and legal issues presented by this matter. Id. In addition, Plaintiff does not oppose the motion, the motion is filed prior to the expiration of the deadline, this is Defendants' first request for an extension, and the motion is made in good faith and not for the purposes of delay. Id. Defendants propose the following new dates for the remaining scheduling deadlines:
January 30, 2017 Dispositive motion deadline
February 28, 2017 Joint pretrial order due (suspended until 30 days after the Court rules on any dispositive motions)
Defendants acknowledge that this motion was not filed more than 21 days prior to the expiration of the dispositive motion deadline, and therefore provide the following information concerning excusable neglect: as noted above, the undersigned has been working diligently on a dispositive motion, and had hoped to complete the motion by December 23, 2016, prior to taking planned leave during the week of December 26. The undersigned is seeking the extension now after determining that his prior estimation of the time needed to complete the motion was overly optimistic, and after arranging to speak with Plaintiff concerning the request on December 27, 2016. ///
III. CONCLUSION
Defendants' motion to extend the remaining scheduling deadlines should be granted.
DATED this 27th day of December, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
ADAM PAUL LAXALT
Attorney General
By: /s/ Jared M. Frost
JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132)
Senior Deputy Attorney General
Attorneys for Defendants
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED December 28, 2016
/s/_________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that I am an employee of the State of Nevada, Office of the Attorney General, and that on December 27, 2016, I electronically filed the DEFENDANTS' UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND REMAINING SCHEDULING DEADLINES (FIRST REQUEST) via this Court's electronic filing system. Parties that are registered with this Court's electronic filing system will be served electronically. For those parties not registered, service was made by depositing a copy for mailing in the United States Mail, first-class postage prepaid, at Las Vegas, Nevada to the following: Stanley Rimer, #1069241
Lovelock Correctional Center
1200 Prison Road
Lovelock, Nevada 89419
Plaintiff Pro Se
/s/ Mary Pizzariello
An employee of the Office of the
Nevada Attorney General
EXHIBIT 1
DECLARATION OF COUNSEL
EXHIBIT 1
ADAM PAUL LAXALT
Attorney General
JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132)
Senior Deputy Attorney General
State of Nevada
Office of the Attorney General
Bureau of Litigation
Public Safety Division
555 E. Washington Ave, Suite 3900
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
(702) 486-3177 (Telephone)
(702) 486-3773 (Facsimile)
Email: jfrost@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants Dwight Neven,
Harold Wickham, Jennifer Nash, Timothy Filson,
Frank Dreesen, Jerry Howell, Joseph Hanson,
Romeo Aranas, Cynthia Sablica, and Linda Adams
DECLARATION OF COUNSEL
I, JARED M. FROST, hereby declare, based on personal knowledge and/or information and belief, that the following assertions are true:
1. I am a Senior Deputy Attorney General employed by the Nevada Attorney General in the Litigation Division, and I make this declaration on behalf of unopposed motion to extend remaining scheduling deadlines in the above-captioned matter for thirty (30) days. This is Defendants' first request to extend the dispositive motion deadlines in this matter.
2. Pursuant to this Court's order dated August 16, 2016, dispositive motions are currently due December 28, 2016.
3. I have been working diligently to meet the dispositive motion deadline, and hoped to have completed the motion by December 23, 2016, prior to talking planned annual leave from December 26, 2016, through January 2, 2017.
4. Due to my responsibilities to meet deadlines in other cases, the planned leave, and the significant number of Defendants, records, and legal issues presented in this matter, I will be unable to complete the dispositive motion within the allotted time. Some of the other state and federal cases that have impacted my ability to complete the dispositive motion in this matter include: Martinez v. Cox, USDC Case No, 2:16-cv-1546 (multiple discovery requests served by Plaintiff 11/22/16, multiple requests served by Defendants 12/14/16); Walters v. Williams, 2:15-cv-2196 (motion for summary judgment filed 12/05/16); Houston v. Berrett, 8th JD Case No. A-17-743551-W (merits hearing held 12/19/16); Williams v. Neven, USDC Case No. 2:15-cv-01327 (answer filed 12/19/16); Johnson v. State of Nevada, USDC Case No. 2:14-cv-1425 (response to motion to compel filed 12/19/16); Porchia v. State of Nevada, USDC Case No. 2:16-cv-02987 (petition for removal filed 12/23/16)
5. On December 27, 2016, I contacted Plaintiff by phone regarding Defendants' extension request. Plaintiff indicated that he had no objection to the request and stated that the request could be filed unopposed.
6. Defendants' motion is made in good faith and not for the purpose of delay.
7. Excusable neglect supports Defendants' motion as the motion is filed as soon as it became clear that Defendants' motion would not be completed before the expiration of the current deadline and after I arranged to speak with Plaintiff concerning the extension request. /// /// /// /// ///
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1746 Declarant certifies, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct.
DATED this 27th day of December, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
ADAM PAUL LAXALT
Attorney General
By: /s/ Jared M. Frost
JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132)
Senior Deputy Attorney General
Attorneys for Defendants