Cottrell v. Ogbuehi et al

Filing 103

ORDER regarding Consent to United States Magistrate Judge and directing Clerk of Court to send parties Consent / Decline Forms signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 3/21/2017. (20-Day Filing Deadline). (Attachments: # 1 Consent / Decline Form). (Lundstrom, T)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DALE L. COTTRELL,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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FELIX IGBINOSA, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Case No.: 1:13-cv-01530-LJO-SAB (PC)
ORDER REGARDING CONSENT TO UNITED
STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO
SEND PARTIES CONSENT/DECLINE FORMS

Plaintiff Dale L. Cottrell is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action

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pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff declined United States Magistrate Judge jurisdiction on July 8,

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2015 (ECF No. 7), and Defendants have not consented or declined.

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This action is proceeding against Defendants Lackey and Berard for deliberate indifference to

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a serious medical need in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Now that the case is ready to be set for

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trial, the parties are advised of the following important information about scheduling and trailing cases

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before the undersigned:

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District Court Judges of the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California have one of

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the heaviest caseload in the nation. As a result, each District Judge schedules multiple trials to begin

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on each available trial date. Civil cases will trail and begin as soon as a courtroom is cleared. The law

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requires that the Court give any criminal trial priority over civil trials or any other matter. A civil trial

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set to begin while a criminal trial is proceeding will trail the completion of the criminal trial.
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The Court cannot give advance notice of which cases will trail or for how long because the

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Court does not know which cases actually will go to trial or precisely how long each will last. Once

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your trial date arrives, counsel, parties and witnesses must remain on 24-hour-stand-by until a court

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opens. Since continuance to a date certain will simply postpone, but not solve, the problem,

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continuances of any civil trial under these circumstances will no longer be entertained, absent a

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specific and stated finding of good cause. The Court will use its best efforts to mitigate the effect of

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the foregoing and to resolve all cases in a timely manner.

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One alternative is for the parties to consent to a United States Magistrate Judge conducting all

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proceedings, including trial and entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 73, and Local Rule 305. The Eastern District Magistrate Judges, all experienced

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former trial lawyers, use the same jury pool and same court facilities as United States District Court

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Judges. Since Magistrate Judges do not conduct felony trials, they have greater flexibility and

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schedule firm trial dates. Judgment entered by a United States Magistrate Judge is appealable directly

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to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. (While there are scheduling benefits to

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consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction, substantive rulings and decisions will not be affected by

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whether a party chooses to consent or not.)

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As another response to its large caseload, the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of

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California is assigning cases, whenever possible, to Article III District Court Judges from around the

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nation as Visiting Judges. Pursuant to the Local Rules, Appendix A, such reassignments will be

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random, and the parties will receive no advance notice before their case is reassigned to an Article III

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District Court Judge from outside of the Eastern District of California.

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Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:

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The Clerk’s Office shall send the parties consent/decline forms;

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2.

Within twenty (20) days from the date of service of this order, the parties may return
the consent form to the Court; and

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///

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3.

After the twenty (20) day deadline has expired, if all parties have not consented to

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United States Magistrate Judge jurisdiction the matter will be set for jury trial before

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the undersigned.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

/s/ Lawrence J. O’Neill _____

March 21, 2017

UNITED STATES CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE

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