Alfaro v. McGuinness et al

Filing 30

ORDER Granting 29 Request to Reopen Discovery for the Limited Purpose of Taking Plaintiff's Deposition and to Extend the Deadline for Dispositive Motions, signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on 12/9/14. (Verduzco, M)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JESSE ALFARO, 12 Plaintiff, 13 14 v. WILLIAM J. MCGUINNESS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 1:12-cv-00568-LJO-BAM (PC) ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ REQUEST TO REOPEN DISCOVERY FOR THE LIMITED PURPOSE OF TAKING PLAINTIFF’S DEPOSITION AND TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS (ECF No. 29.) 19 I. 20 Plaintiff Jesse Alfaro (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in Background 21 this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action proceeds against Defendants 22 McGuinness, Moon, Neubarth, John Doe and Jane Doe for deliberate indifference to serous medical 23 needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. 24 On February 19, 2014, the Court issued a Discovery and Scheduling Order. Pursuant to that 25 order, discovery closed on October 19, 2014,1 and the dispositive motion deadline is December 29, 26 2014. (ECF No. 20.) 27 28 1 October 19, 2014, was a Sunday. 1 On August 20, 2014, the Court granted Defendants’ motion to compel Plaintiff’s responses to 1 2 discovery. Pursuant to that order, Plaintiff’s discovery responses were due within thirty days 3 following service of the Court’s order. (ECF No. 26.) Plaintiff did not provide discovery responses. 4 (ECF No. 29-1, Lewis Dec. ¶ 7.) On September 23, 2014, Defendants served Plaintiff with a Notice of Deposition for October 5 6 20, 2014. Plaintiff arrived forty minutes late and refused to be deposed due to his “medical 7 condition.” (Id. ¶ 9 and Ex. 1.) On November 19, 2014, Defendants McGuinness, Moon and Neubarth filed the instant motion 8 9 to reopen discovery for the limited purpose of deposing Plaintiff and to extend the dispositive motion 10 deadline 120 days. (ECF No. 29.) The Court finds a response unnecessary and the motion is deemed 11 submitted.2 Local Rule 230(l). 12 II. Discussion 13 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), a scheduling order “may be modified only 14 for good cause and with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). The “good cause” standard 15 “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the amendment.” Johnson v. Mammoth 16 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). The court may modify the scheduling order “if it 17 cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.” Id. If the party 18 was not diligent, the inquiry should end. Id. 19 The Court finds good cause to extend the discovery and dispositive motion deadlines in this 20 matter. Defendants have been diligent in pursuing discovery in this matter, but have been unable to 21 complete Plaintiff’s deposition through no fault of their own. According to the record, Plaintiff has 22 not responded to written discovery despite a court order and has not allowed for the completion of his 23 deposition. (ECF No. 29-1, Lewis Dec. ¶¶ 7-9 and Ex. 1.) The deposition transcript reflects that 24 Plaintiff sought a continuation of his deposition due to medical reasons and the deposition was 25 terminated. (ECF No. 29-1, Ex. 1, Pl’s Dep. p. 8:2-2.) Defendants therefore require an extension of 26 27 28 2 Plaintiff will not be prejudiced by the inability to respond. Defendants’ request to reopen discovery is limited in scope and is necessary because of Plaintiff’s actions in this case. 2 1 the discovery deadline, which has passed, to complete Plaintiff’s deposition. In light of that extension, 2 Defendants also require a corresponding extension of the dispositive motion deadline. 3 III. 4 For the reasons stated, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 5 1. Defendants’ motion to reopen discovery for the limited purpose of taking Plaintiff’s deposition is GRANTED; 6 7 2. Discovery is reopened for sixty (60) days from the date of this order for the sole purpose of deposing Plaintiff; and 8 9 Conclusion and Order 3. The dispositive motion deadline is extended one-hundred twenty (120) days from the date of this order. 10 11 12 13 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: /s/ Barbara December 9, 2014 A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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