Opinion
No. 2:15-cv-1238 TLN AC P
10-25-2016
JUSTIN JAY WISE, Plaintiff, v. A. MENDENHALL, Defendant.
ORDER
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff requests summons forms for witnesses he plans to call at trial and for a trial date to be set. ECF No. 23. Plaintiff has also filed a motion to compel defendant to answer interrogatories. ECF No. 24.
The court has not yet set a trial date in this case and a trial date will not be set until after any motions for summary judgment are decided or the time for filing such motions has passed. Plaintiff will be notified if and when a trial date is set and his request for a trial date is denied as premature. Since it is unclear at this time whether the case will go to trial, plaintiff's request for summonses is also denied as premature. Plaintiff may resubmit his request if and when a trial is scheduled in this case.
Plaintiff also filed a motion to compel defendant Mendenhall to respond to interrogatories. ECF No. 24. A party seeking discovery may move for an order compelling an answer if a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 33. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(3)(B)(iii).
The court does not hold prisoners proceeding pro se to the same standards that it holds attorneys. However, at a minimum, as the moving party plaintiff bears the burden of informing the court of which discovery requests are the subject of his motion to compel and, for each disputed response, why defendant's objection is not justified.Waterbury v. Scribner, No. 1:05-cv-0764 OWW DLB PC, 2008 WL 2018432, at *1, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53142, at *3 (E.D. Cal. May 8, 2008). Plaintiff's motion does not identify the specific requests and responses at issue or why the responses are insufficient, and is therefore denied without prejudice to a motion in the proper form. In order for the court to consider plaintiff's motion to compel, plaintiff must (1) reproduce the requests at issue, (2) reproduce defendant's responses to the requests, and (3) include a statement explaining why each response given is insufficient. Plaintiff may either re-write each request and response or provide a copy of the responses defendant sent him if they also include the request.
If plaintiff needs an extension of time in order to file a motion to compel, he should file a motion requesting an extension of time before the deadline to file a motion to compel expires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A) (the court may for good cause, extend the time if a request is made before the time to file a motion expires). A motion for extension of time should inform the court how much time he needs to file a motion to compel and explain why he needs that amount of time. The current deadline for filing a motion to compel is November 18, 2016. ECF No. 19 at 5.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's request for summonses and a trial date (ECF No. 23) is denied as premature.DATED: October 25, 2016
2. Plaintiff's motion to compel (ECF No. 24) is denied without prejudice to a motion in the proper form.
/s/_________
ALLISON CLAIRE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE