Goolsby v. Carrasco et al

Filing 57

ORDER DENYING 56 Motion to Amend Interrogatory Number Nine and Renew Motion to Compel, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 07/19/2011. (Martin-Gill, S)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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THOMAS GOOLSBY,

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Plaintiff,

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Case No. 1:09-cv-01650 JLT (PC)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
TO AMEND INTERROGATORY NUMBER
NINE AND RENEW MOTION TO COMPEL

vs.
M. CARRASCO, et al.,

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(Doc. 56)

Defendants.

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/

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

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§ 1983. Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s July 15, 2011 motion to amend interrogatory number 9

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and renew his motion to compel.

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I.

BACKGROUND

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On January 11, 2011, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel discovery responses. (Doc. 45.) Among

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other things, Plaintiff requested that Defendant Gonzales be ordered to provide a complete response to

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interrogatory number 9. (Id. at 6.) Interrogatory number 9 provides: “State the most time in any week

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between [J]anuary 2008 to [J]anuary 2010 that IEM inmates received at yard at IV B shu? State the

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same for 5 block IV A yard?” (Id.)

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In its July 5, 2011 ruling on Plaintiff’s motion to compel, the Court denied Plaintiff’s request for

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a further response to interrogatory number 9. (See Doc. 53 at 5-6.) The Court agreed with Defendant

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that the interrogatory was overbroad because the amount of yard time other inmates received between
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January 2008 and January 2010 was not on-point with Plaintiff’s claim that he himself was deprived of

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adequate out-of-cell exercise time during that time period. (Id. at 6.)

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In response, on July 15, 2011, Plaintiff filed the instant motion to amend interrogatory number

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9 and to renew his motion to compel. (Doc. 56.) Plaintiff wishes to amend his interrogatory to state the

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following: “State the most time Plaintiff Thomas Goolsby F-19778 received out-of-cell exercise in an

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IEM cage in a one week time period from January 2008 to January 2010, any week in between those

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dates and applies to any building Plaintiff was in during the above time period.” (Id. at 6.)

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II.

DISCUSSION

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As an initial matter, the deadline for conducting discovery passed long ago. Pursuant to the

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discovery and scheduling order in this case, discovery concluded on November 30, 2010.1 (Doc. 20.)

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Because Plaintiff has not shown good cause to amend the scheduling order under Federal Rule of Civil

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Procedure 16(b), his belated attempt to amend his discovery requests and to compel a response from

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Defendant must be denied. See Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609-10 (9th Cir.

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1992) (good cause to amend a scheduling order requires the moving party to demonstrate that despite

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its diligence it was unable to adhere to the court’s deadlines).

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Further, allowing Plaintiff to amend interrogatory number 9 would be superfluous. In its July

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5, 2011 ruling on Plaintiff’s motion to compel, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request for the production

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of documents number 8, which seeks documents indicating the amount of out-of-cell exercise Plaintiff

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received during all times relevant to this action. (Doc. 53 at 11.) Any information obtained through this

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discovery request would encompass any information Plaintiff might obtain by amending interrogatory

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number 9.

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By order filed December 15, 2010, the Court granted Plaintiff until January 16, 2011, to file any motion to compel
he wished to pursue. (Doc. 44.)

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III.

CONCLUSION

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Accordingly, for all the reasons discussed above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s

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July 15, 2011 motion to amend interrogatory 9 and renew his motion to compel (Doc. 56) is DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

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July 19, 2011

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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