Seychelles Organics Incorporated v. Rose

Filing 44

ORDER granting 31 MOTION for a Finding of Contempt Against Defendant John Rose. Contempt Hearing set for 12/11/2013 at 02:00 PM in Courtroom 506, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Senior Judge Frederick J Martone. (See document for further details). Signed by Senior Judge Frederick J Martone on 11/4/13. (LAD)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Seychelles Organics, Inc.,
Plaintiff,

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vs.

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John R. Rose,
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Defendant.
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No. CV-11-01746-PHX-FJM
ORDER

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Before the court is plaintiff Seychelles Organics, Inc.’s motion for contempt against

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defendant John Rose for failing to produce documents and appear for deposition testimony

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under subpoena (doc. 31), Rose’s response (doc. 41), and Seychelles’ reply (doc. 43). On

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August 31, 2012, Seychelles initiated discovery related to enforcement of its judgment

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against Rose by noticing depositions of Rose and his employer/affiliated entity AnuMed

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International, LLC, and requesting the production of documents by way of subpoenas duces

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tecum (docs. 18, 19). We denied Rose’s and AnuMed’s motion for protective order (doc.

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30), yet Rose continues to refuse to appear for a judgment debtor’s examination or to produce

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any documents.

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Under Rule 45(e), Fed. R. Civ. P., an “issuing court may hold in contempt a person

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who, having been served, fails without adequate excuse to obey the subpoena.” In his

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response to the motion to compel, Rose gives various reasons for his failure to comply with

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the subpoenas, including that he was out of town, his lawyer told him he did not need to

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comply, and that he had already given a deposition in a related action in 2010. These reasons

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fall far short of establishing an adequate excuse to ignore the subpoenas. Accordingly, we

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find defendant John Rose in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas. A hearing is

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hereby set before this court on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge

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Frederick J. Martone, in Courtroom 506, at which we will levy appropriate sanctions for

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the contempt, which may include incarceration. Rose must personally appear at the hearing.

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Rose may purge himself of this contempt by producing the requested documents and

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appearing for a judgment debtor’s examination no later than December 2, 2013. Rose must

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produce the requested documents at least 7 days before the scheduled examination. Upon

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an adequate showing that Rose has complied with the subpoenas, we will enter an order

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purging the finding of contempt at the December 11, 2013 hearing.

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IT IS ORDERED GRANTING the motion for a finding of contempt against defendant
John Rose (doc. 31).
DATED this 4th day of November, 2013.

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