Walker v. Fitzgibbons

Full title: RICKY LAVERN WALKER, JR., Plaintiff(s), v. OFFICER ROBERT FITZGIBBONS, No…

Court: United States District Court, D. Colorado

Date published: Jun 25, 2007

Civil Action No. 06-cv-02411-PSF-PAC (D. Colo. Jun. 25, 2007)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 06-cv-02411-PSF-PAC.

June 25, 2007

ORDER

O. SCHLATTER, Magistrate Judge

This is a pro se prisoner civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The matter before the court is Defendant's Motion for Protective Order Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) [Doc. #47; filed June 21, 2007].

Plaintiff served discovery requests on defendants dated May 21, 2007, June 18, 2007, and June 19, 2007. See Attachments to Defendant's Motion for Protective Order. The Scheduling Order deadline for completion of discovery in this case was June 21, 2007.

(Doc. #28)

Defendants ask the court to issue a protective order under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) that defendants need not respond to the requested discovery because it is untimely.

Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, plaintiff should have served his discovery requests on defendant no later than May 18, 2007. Plaintiff did not move for an extension of the discovery deadline.

On April 9, 2007, I granted plaintiff's motion requesting that the Clerk attempt to locate volunteer counsel to represent plaintiff. The Clerk's efforts have been unsuccessful to date, but are continuing. In the meantime, plaintiff is required to proceed on his own to obtain the discovery he needs to prosecute his claims. Although a pro se party is obligated to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure the same as other litigants, I find that some leeway is appropriate. Accordingly, it is

HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Protective Order Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) [Doc. #47; filed June 21, 2007] is DENIED. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that defendants shall respond to Plaintiff's First Set of Written Discovery to Defendants, Plaintiff's Requests for Production of Documents from the Defendants, Plaintiff's First Interrogatories to Defendant Officer Robert Fitzgibbons, and Plaintiff's First Interrogatories to Defendant Officer Trent Tatum on or before July 26, 2007. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that the discovery deadline is extended to July 26, 2007 for the purpose of obtaining defendants' responses to plaintiffs' discovery requests. Plaintiff is reminded that discovery is otherwise closed in this case.