Opinion
6:04-cv-122.
June 21, 2011
ORDER
I. INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff Dexter Shaw ("Shaw") sued Defendant Trellis Dodson ("Defendant") alleging, inter alia, retaliation for his filing a grievance. The Court dismissed many of Shaw's claims on summary judgment, see Doc. 283, and a jury found against him on the rest, see Doc. 311. The Eleventh Circuit reversed this Court's dismissal of the retaliation claim. See Doc. 342. The case is set for trial June 27, 2011. Before the Court are several motions Shaw has filed.
II. ANALYSIS
A. Production of Original Documents
Shaw moves for a subpoena duces tecum, see Doc. 479, and an order, see Doc. 488, commanding Defendant to bring only original documents to trial rather than photocopies. Shaw acknowledges that "during discovery, the Defendants produced photo-copies of Plaintiff's requests." See Docs. 479 at 2; see also 488 at 2. Photocopies are admissible to the same extent as an original unless Shaw can raise a genuine question of their authenticity or it would otherwise be unfair to admit the duplicate. See FED. R. EVID. 1003. Shaw's argument fails to meet this standard. Plaintiff has had many opportunities to inspect these files in their original form throughout the discovery period, and Defendant has previously produced copies of them. See Doc. 496 at 2-4.
His motions, see Docs. 479, 488, are DENIED.
B. Witness Subpoenas
Shaw moves the Court to subpoena Larry Montgomery, Gary Curry, Remer Johnson, and Frank Mathis to testify in this case. See Docs. 480, 491, 493. These motions are GRANTED.
C. Criminal Record
Shaw also moves for the Court to exclude reference to his criminal convictions because they all occurred more than ten years ago. See Doc. 492. The Federal Rules of Evidence's ten-year limit, however, only begins to run from the later of Shaw's date of conviction or his release from confinement imposed for that conviction. See FED. R. EVID. 609(b). Shaw is serving a life sentence and has not shown which, if any, of his convictions resulted in shorter concurrent sentences that may have elapsed more than ten years ago. See Doc. 492.
Shaw's motion, see Doc. 492, is DENIED.
D. Recusal
Finally, Shaw moves the Court to recuse itself. See Doc. 497. Shaw does not allege any conflict of interest, but instead rails against this Court's adverse rulings. See id.
Shaw's motion for voluntary disqualification, see Doc. 497, is DENIED.
III. CONCLUSION
The Court GRANTS Shaw's motion to subpoena witnesses. See Docs. 480, 491, 493.
Shaw's motions for the production of original documents, see Docs. 479, 488, are DENIED.
Shaw's motion to exclude his criminal record, see Doc. 492, is DENIED.
Shaw's motion for voluntary disqualification, see Doc. 497, is DENIED.