Opinion
NO. 5:04-CV-417 (CAR), PROCEEDINGS UNDER 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
May 1, 2007
ORDER
On April 13, 2007, Plaintiff DANNY WILLIAMS herein filed a "MOTION TO FIND DEFENDANTS/COUNSEL IN CONTEMPT AND IMPOSE SANCTIONS" in which Plaintiff alleged that the defendants had not complied with the terms of the court's March 2nd Order compelling the defendants to provide Plaintiff with discovery. Tab #81. Defendants responded to Plaintiff's motion and included in their response the allegation that Plaintiff had only filed his motion in an effort to harass defendants and their counsel and delay the proceedings and asked that the court assess Plaintiff with the costs associated with their responding to his motion. Tab #82-1. Plaintiff replied to the defendants' contentions. Tab #85.
After reviewing all of the filings on this matter, it is apparent that the cause of this feud was a significant delay in transit, as the defendants mailed their discovery within the time frame allotted by the court's March 2nd Order but Plaintiff did not receive the package from the prison mailroom until more than a week after it was sent. See Tabs #80 and #82-4.
Since defendants complied with the court's order, Plaintiff's motion to find defendants in contempt (Tab #81) is DENIED and since plaintiff's motion came after waiting a reasonable time after the time for defendants' production had elapsed, defendants request to assess costs associated with responding to plaintiff's motion is also DENIED.
SO ORDERED AND DIRECTED.