Gray v. Johnson et al

Filing 97

ORDER granting 81 Motion to Quash and denying 91 Motion to deny Judical Notice signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck on 7/6/2016. (Lundstrom, T)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DANA GRAY,

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No. 1:13-cv-01473 DLB PC
Plaintiff,

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v.

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ROMERO, et al.,

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Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION TO QUASH
(Document 81)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
TO DENY JUDICIAL NOTICE
(Document 91)

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Plaintiff Dana Gray (“Plaintiff”), a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis,

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filed this civil rights action on September 12, 2013. The action is proceeding against Defendants

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Mundunuri, Ziomek, Rebel, Romero, Comelli and Loadholt for violation of the Eighth

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Amendment and negligence.
Defendants Mundunuir, Ziomek, Romero, Comelli and Loadholt have answered the

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Fourth Amended Complaint and the Court issued a Discovery and Scheduling Order on May 2,

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2016.

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Defendant Rebel filed a motion to dismiss on April 29, 2016. The motion is pending.

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On May 2, 2016, Plaintiff filed a motion to quash Defendant Rebel’s subpoena seeking

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her medical and central files. Defendant Rebel opposed the motion on May 27, 2016. On June

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22, 2016, Plaintiff filed her reply, along with a motion to “deny judicial notice on Defendant

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///
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Rebel’s discovery requests.” Defendant Rebel filed an opposition on June 24, 2016. The motions

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are deemed submitted pursuant to Local Rule 230(l).

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DISCUSSION
A.

MOTION TO QUASH
A party may serve a subpoena commanding a nonparty “to produce documents,

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electronically stored information, or tangible things....” Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(a)(1)(C). The subpoena

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is subject to the relevance requirements set forth in Rule 26(b), i.e., the subpoena may command

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the production of documents which are “nonprivileged” and are “relevant to any party's claim or

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defense” or “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Fed.R.Civ.P.

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26(b)(1). The information sought need not be admissible at trial as long as it appears reasonably

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calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Id. A “relevant matter” under Rule

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26(b)(1) is any matter that “bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear

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on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340,

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351, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978).
Upon a timely motion, the court will quash a subpoena that “requires disclosure of

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privileged or other protected matter, if no exception or waiver applies.” Fed.R.Civ.P.

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45(c)(3)(A)(iii).

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In light of the pending motion to dismiss based on statute of limitations issues, which

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maybe dispositive of this action against Defendant Rebel, the Court finds that the motion should

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be GRANTED. The documents at issue do not appear to be related to any issues in the pending

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motion to dismiss. If and when merits-based discovery becomes appropriate for Defendant

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Rebel, he may reissue the subpoena at that time.

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B.

MOTION TO DENY JUDICIAL NOTICE
The exact nature of Plaintiff’s motion is unclear. She requests that the Court deny

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Defendant Rebel’s request to judicially notice discovery requests because discovery has not

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officially opened as to Defendant Rebel. Defendant Rebel has not requested judicial notice of

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any documents, however, and he has not formally served Plaintiff with any discovery requests.1

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Defendant Rebel mistakenly attached discovery from an unrelated action to the declaration of Andrew E. Weiss in

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Insofar as Plaintiff is trying to prevent the use of any records obtained via the subpoena,
this is no longer an issue at this time.
Plaintiff’s motion is therefore DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

/s/ Dennis

July 6, 2016

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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L. Beck

support of his opposition. ECF 86-1.

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