Branch v. Grannis, et al.,

Filing 140

ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's 136 Request for Reconsideration as Untimely signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 9/11/2014. (Sant Agata, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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LOUIS BRANCH,

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Plaintiff,

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vs.

1:08-cv-01655-AWI-GSA-PC
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION
AS UNTIMELY
(Doc. 136.)

N. GRANNIS, et al.,

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Defendants.

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I.

BACKGROUND

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Louis Branch ("Plaintiff") is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis

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with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the Complaint

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commencing this action on July 7, 2008. (Doc. 1.) This action now proceeds on the Third

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Amended Complaint, filed by Plaintiff on July 10, 2013, against defendants Umphenour,

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Szalai, and Alvarez (“Defendants”) for deliberate indifference to a serious risk to Plaintiff’s

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safety in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and against defendant Umphenour for retaliation

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in violation of the First Amendment. (Doc. 94.)

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On October 21, 2013 and February 21, 2014, the court issued Scheduling Orders

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establishing pretrial deadlines, including a deadline of June 21, 2014 to complete discovery,

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and a deadline of September 2, 2014 for the filing of pretrial dispositive motions. (Docs. 109,

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120.) The discovery deadline is now expired.

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On August 18, 2014, Plaintiff filed a Request for Reconsideration by the District Judge
of three of the Magistrate Judge’s orders in this case. (Doc. 136.)
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II.

REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION BY DISTRICT JUDGE

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Local Rule 303 provides that "[a] party seeking reconsideration of the Magistrate

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Judge's ruling shall file a request for reconsideration by a Judge . . . specifically designat[ing]

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the ruling, or party thereof, objected to and the basis for that objection. This request shall be

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captioned 'Request for Reconsideration by the District Court of Magistrate Judge's Ruling.'"

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Local Rule 303(c). "The standard that the assigned Judge shall use in all such requests is the

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'clearly erroneous or contrary to law' standard set forth in 28 U.S.C. ' 636(b)(1)(A)." Local

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Rule 303(f). “The District Judge in the case must consider timely objections and modify or set

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aside any part of [a Magistrate Judge’s non-dispositive] order that is clearly erroneous or is

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contrary to law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). “A party may serve and file objections to the order

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within 14 days after being served with a copy[, and a] party may not assign as error a defect in

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the order not timely objected to. Id.

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Plaintiff seeks reconsideration of three of the Magistrate Judge’s orders in this case: (1)

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Screening Order filed and served upon Plaintiff on May 11, 2011 (Doc. 29); (2) Screening

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Order filed and served upon Plaintiff on September 16, 2013 (Doc. 103); and (3) Order

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Denying Appointment of Counsel filed and served upon Plaintiff on July 24, 2014 (Doc. 134).

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All three of these orders were served upon Plaintiff more than 14 days before Plaintiff filed his

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request for reconsideration, which makes the request untimely under Rule 72. Therefore,

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Plaintiff’s request shall be denied as untimely.

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III.

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CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that

Plaintiff’s

reconsideration, filed on August 18, 2014, is DENIED as untimely.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: September 11, 2014
SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

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request

for