Ragland v. Smith et al

Filing 26

ORDER granting 25 Defendants' MOTION for Extension of Time to File Dispositive Motions, directing the parties to file any dispositive motions on or before 9/11/09; granting 23 Defendants' MOTION to Compel. Plaintiff shall file, on or b efore 8/13/09, his Answers to Defendants' Interrogatories & Requests for Production, which includes Plaintiff executing a Medical Authorization. The 9/23/09 Evidentiary Hearing/Trial is CANCELLED, & all remaining deadlines imposed in the 4/7/09 Scheduling Order are VACATED. Signed by Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray on 7/14/09. (jct)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS JONESBORO DIVISION

JACK LEROY RAGLAND, JR. ADC #120730 V. KEITH MILAN; and J.T. LILLARD, Officers, Craighead County Detention Center ORDE R 3:08CV00203 JMM/JTR

PLAINTIFF

DEFENDANTS

Defendants in this pro se § 1983 action have filed two non-dispositive Motions. Each Motion will be addressed separately. I. Defendants' Motion to Compel On June 26, 2009, Defendants filed a Motion to Compel Plaintiff to answer their April 3, 2009 Interrogatories and Request for Production.1 See docket entries #23 and #24. Plaintiff has not filed a Response to Defendants' Motion, and the time for doing so has expired. See Local Rule 7.2(b) (providing that an opposing party has eleven days to file a response to a motion); Local Rule 7.2(f) (providing that: "The failure to timely respond to any nondispositive motion . . . shall be an adequate basis, without more, for granting the relief sought in said motion"). Independent of Plaintiff's failure to file a Response, the Court also finds good cause for granting Defendants' request. Therefore, the Court concludes that Plaintiff must file answers to each of Defendants' One of the claims in this action is that Defendants allegedly failed to provide Plaintiff with adequate medical care. See docket entries #1, #2, and #8. Therefore, in these discovery papers, Defendants also sought to have Plaintiff execute a Medical Authorization.
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April 3, 2009 Interrogatories and Request for Production, within thirty days from the entry of this Order.2 Plaintiff's failure to comply with this Order may be grounds for dismissing this action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(v) (providing, in pertinent part, that a court may dismiss an action if "a party fails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery"). II. Defendants' Motion for an Extension of Time The dispositive motion deadline in this case was July 10, 2009, and the case is scheduled to proceed to an Evidentiary Hearing/Trial on September 23, 2009. See docket entry #21. On July 2, 2009, Defendants filed a Motion asking the Court to extend the dispositive motion deadline so that they will have sufficient time to review the discovery answers Plaintiff files in compliance with this Order. See docket entry #25. The Court finds good cause for granting this request. In light of the extension of the discovery deadline, the Court will cancel the September 23, 2009 Evidentiary Hearing/Trial and reschedule it (if necessary) at a later date. III. Conclusion IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT: 1. 2. Defendants' Motion to Compel (docket entry #23) is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall file, on or before August 13, 2009, his Answers to Defendants'

April 3, 2009 Interrogatories and Requests for Production, which includes Plaintiff executing a Medical Authorization. 3.
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Defendants' Motion for an Extension of Time (docket entry #25) is GRANTED.

This means Plaintiff must serve and file his answers on or before August 13, 2009. Usually, discovery answers are not filed with the Court, but instead, are mailed directly to opposing counsel, along with a certificate of service. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d). However, Plaintiff must file his Answers to Defendants' April 3, 2009 discovery requests with the Clerk so that the Court can determine if he has timely and properly complied with this Order. -2-

5.

The September 23, 2009 Evidentiary Hearing/Trial is CANCELED, and all remaining

deadlines imposed in the April 7, 2009 Scheduling Order (docket entry #21) are VACATED. 6. The parties must file any dispositive motions on or before September 11, 2009.

Dated this 14th day of July, 2009.

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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