Fields v. Rosenthal

Filing 57

ORDER GRANTING Defendant's 50 Motion to Strike or Deny Plaintiff's Request; ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's 48 Request for Judicial Notice signed by Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin on 1/30/2014. (Sant Agata, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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KEVIN FIELDS,

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Plaintiff,

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vs.
RICHARD ROSENTHAL, et al.,

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Defendants.

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1:10-cv-01764-GSA-PC
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION TO STRIKE OR DENY
PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST
(Doc. 50.)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE
(Doc. 48.)

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I.

BACKGROUND

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Kevin E. Fields (“Plaintiff”) is a prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action

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pursuant to 42 U.S.C. ' 1983. Plaintiff initiated this action by civil complaint at the Kings

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County Superior Court on August 11, 2010 (Case #10-C0309). On September 23, 2010,

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defendant Richard Rosenthal (ADefendant@) removed the case to federal court by filing a Notice

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of Removal of Action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 1441(b). (Doc. 1.) This case now proceeds on

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the Second Amended Complaint filed by Plaintiff on August 22, 2012, against Defendant

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Rosenthal, for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. (Doc. 17.)

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On December 30, 2013, Defendant filed a motion to strike Plaintiff’s second request for
judicial notice. (Doc. 50.) Plaintiff has not filed an opposition.
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II.

DEFENDANT’S MOTION

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Defendant moves to strike, or in the alternative, to deny the request for judicial notice

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filed by Plaintiff on December 6, 2013, in which Plaintiff requests the court to take judicial

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notice of prison isolation logs and an order compelling discovery in an unrelated case. (Doc.

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48.) Defendant argues that Plaintiff provides no explanation as to why isolation logs should be

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lodged with the Court, and Plaintiff requests the Court to take judicial notice of items not

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suitable for judicial notice.

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Judicial Notice

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AA judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is

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either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of

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accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be

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questioned.@ Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). AA court shall take judicial notice if requested by a party

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and supplied with the necessary information.@ Fed. R. Evid. 201(d). The court may take

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judicial notice of court records. Valerio v. Boise Cascade Corp., 80 F.R.D. 626, 635 n.l (N.D.

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Cal. 1978), aff'd, 645 F.2d 699 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1126 (1981). AJudicial notice

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is an adjudicative device that alleviates the parties= evidentiary duties at trial, serving as a

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substitute for the conventional method of taking evidence to establish facts.@ York v. American

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Tel. & Tel. Co., 95 F.3d 948, 958 (10th Cir. 1996)(internal quotations omitted); see General

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Elec. Capital Corp. v. Lease Resolution Corp., 128 F.3d 1074, 1081 (7th Cir. 1997).

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Defendant’s Arguments

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Defendant argues that the isolation logs Plaintiff attaches to Plaintiff’s request for

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judicial notice are not facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute, because the information

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in the isolation logs are not (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial

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court, or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy

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cannot reasonably be questioned.

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Defendant also argues that Plaintiff has not shown good cause for the court to take

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judicial notice of discovery documents, because he provides no explanation of what specific

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information the court should take judicial notice of or why the court should do so.
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Defendant also argues that the isolation logs Plaintiff requests the Court to take judicial

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notice of contain information that should not be in the public record, such as inmates’

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identification numbers, cell locations, and movement information, as well as indication of when

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security checks were completed and whose cells were searched.

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Discussion

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Plaintiff requests the court to take judicial notice of three documents:

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1.

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Attachment 4 [to Plaintiff’s Request], a copy of the isolation log book (CDCR
114) which evidences all inmates movements;

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2.

“Order granting motion to compel personnel files of defendants, maintenance

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logs, log books, and Plaintiff’s central file.” (Doc. 77 from case 1:03-cv-06364-

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LJO-DLB (PC) - Fields v. Ruiz, et al.)

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Excerpts of record 506-507 (CDCR 114) isolation log evidencing movements of

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inmates (e.g., time in and time out to law library). (from Ninth Circuit case 08-

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16598 - Fields v. Ruiz, et al.)

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(Doc. 48 at 1-2.)

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Plaintiff has not shown good cause for the court to take judicial notice of these

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documents. Plaintiff merely requests the court to take judicial notice of the documents, without

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further explanation.

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To the extent that Plaintiff intends to submit the documents as evidence, Plaintiff is

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reminded that the court cannot serve as a repository for the parties= evidence. The parties may

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not file evidence with the court until the course of litigation brings the evidence into question.

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Plaintiff is also reminded that discovery is closed in this action and none of the parties’

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discovery documents are at issue.

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For these reasons, the court finds no good cause to take judicial notice of the documents

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submitted by Plaintiff, and Defendant’s motion to deny Plaintiff’s request shall be granted.

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III.

CONCLUSION

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Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1.

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Defendant’s motion to strike or deny Plaintiff’s second request for judicial

notice, filed on December 30, 2013, is GRANTED; and

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2.

Plaintiff’s request for judicial notice, filed on December 6, 2013, is DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

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January 30, 2014

/s/ Gary S. Austin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

DEAC_Signature-END:

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