Applegate v. Trausch
Filing
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ORDER GRANTING Defendant's Motion to Stay All Proceedings and ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE 22 Plaintiff's Motion to Amend signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck on 3/29/2016. (Jessen, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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BRIAN C. APPLEGATE,
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Plaintiff,
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Case No. 1:15-cv-00811 AWI DLB PC
ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS
v.
(Document 14)
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TRAUSCH,
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Defendant.
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Plaintiff Brian C. Applegate (“Plaintiff”) is a prisoner in the custody of the California
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Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis
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in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The action is proceeding on Plaintiff’s
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Eighth Amendment and state law claims against Defendant Christian Trausch.
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On January 22, 2016, Defendant filed a motion to stay the proceedings. Plaintiff filed his
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opposition on March 7, 2016. Defendant did not file a reply and the motion is therefore ready for
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decision pursuant to Local Rule 230(l).
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I.
BACKGROUND
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A.
Procedural History
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Plaintiff filed this action on May 29, 2015. The Court screened the complaint on October 15,
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2015, and determined that it stated an Eighth Amendment claim, as well as state law claims, against
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Defendant Christian Trausch. Plaintiff alleged that Defendant coerced him into sexual acts during a
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counseling session on October 22, 2014.
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Defendant filed an answer on January 11, 2016, and the Court issued a Discovery and
Scheduling Order on January 12, 2016.
On January 27, 2016, Defendant’s counsel received written discovery from Plaintiff,
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including two sets of interrogatories and seventy requests for admission. Smith Decl. ¶¶ 5-6. It is
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unclear if Defendant has responded to the discovery as of the date of this order.1
On March 7, 2016, the Court granted Defendant’s request to extend the deadline for
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exchanging initial disclosures to April 26, 2016.
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B.
Exhaustion Issue
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Plaintiff alleges that he filed two inmate appeals regarding the claims in this action, but states
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that prison officials did not act upon the appeals. Defendant denies that Plaintiff ever submitted the
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appeals, and believes that the claims are unexhausted.
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Prior to filing this action, Plaintiff filed a writ of mandate in the Sacramento County Superior
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Court, Applegate v. Beard, in June 2015.2 The two inmate appeals that Plaintiff contends exhausted
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the issues herein are the subject of the petition, and he seeks an order directing prison officials to
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process and adjudicate the appeals. Alternatively, Plaintiff requests that the court find that he
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exhausted his administrative remedies. Smith Decl. ¶ 3. Respondent Beard filed an answer denying
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that Plaintiff ever submitted the appeals in question. Smith Decl. ¶ 4. A hearing on the petition is
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set for April 9, 2016. Smith Decl. ¶ 4.
Defendant intends to bring a motion for summary judgment based on Plaintiff’s failure to
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exhaust in this action. Smith Decl. ¶ 2. Pursuant to the Discovery and Scheduling Order, motions
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for failure to exhaust are due by April 11, 2016.
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II.
DISCUSSION
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The court has inherent authority to manage the cases before it. Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299
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U.S. 248, 254-55 (1936) (“[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in
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Mr. Smith’s declaration indicated that he may be able to serve responses by February 26, 2016. Smith Decl. ¶ 6
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Defendant’s request for judicial notice is GRANTED. The Court may take judicial notice of court records in other
cases. United States v. Howard, 381 F.3d 873, 876 n.1 (9th Cir. 2004).
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every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for
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itself, for counsel, and for litigants. How this can best be done calls for the exercise of judgment
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which must weigh competing interests and maintain an even balance.”) Stays of proceeding in
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federal court ... are committed to the discretion of the trial court. See, e.g., Jarvis v. Regan, 833 F.2d
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149, 155 (9th Cir.1987).
Defendant moves to stay this action pending a ruling on Plaintiff’s petition for writ of
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mandate, arguing that the outcome of the writ would impact this case. The Court agrees.
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A stay of this action is appropriate until the pending state action is resolved. See Nakash v.
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Marciano, 882 F.2d 1411, 1415 (1989) (“[A] federal court may stay its proceedings in deference to
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pending state proceedings.”). Under the Federal Full Faith and Credit Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, “a
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federal court must give to a state-court judgment the same preclusive effect as would be given that
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judgment under the law of the State in which the judgment was rendered.” Migra v. Warren City
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School Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81 (1984); see Adam Bros. Farming, Inc. v. County of Santa
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Barbara, 604 F.3d 1142, 1148 (9th Cir.2010) (same). Under California law, a judgment in a writ of
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mandate is entitled to issue preclusion. Mata v. City of Los Angeles, 20 Cal.App. 4th 141, 149
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(1993).
The state court’s ruling may dramatically impact the exhaustion analysis in this action.
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Given that this Court must decide the exhaustion issue as soon as feasible, Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d
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1162, 1170 (9th Cir. 2014), and the fact that the hearing on the petition is only a few weeks away, a
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stay would avoid the expenditure of unnecessary time and resources. This is especially true where
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the state’s ruling is necessary for both the parties and the Court to move forward efficiently on the
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issue of exhaustion.
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A stay will not prejudice Plaintiff, as he will be entitled to discovery on the issue of
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exhaustion pursuant to the Court’s Discovery and Scheduling Order, once the stay is lifted. The
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ruling on the petition may also provide context within which to seek exhaustion-based discovery,
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and perhaps lead to more focused discovery. Moreover, merits-based discovery, given the open
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issue of exhaustion, would only waste the parties’ resources.3
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It is this Court’s general practice to stay merits-based discovery upon a defendant’s request where a motion for
summary judgment based on exhaustion is pending.
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Plaintiff objects to a stay, believing that Defendant contends that this action will be moot
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regardless of the outcome of the petition. This is not Defendant’s position, however. While the
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outcome of the petition will impact Defendant’s treatment of the exhaustion issue, it will not
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automatically render this action moot. Plaintiff correctly recognizes that this Court will conduct its
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own exhaustion analysis, regardless of the outcome of the petition. The ruling on the petition may
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impact this Court’s ruling, but it will not preclude the Court from analyzing the issue.
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To the extent that Plaintiff argues the merits of an exhaustion issue, his arguments are
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premature and should be raised in response to a motion for summary judgment for failure to exhaust.
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III.
ORDER
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Based on the above, Defendant’s motion to stay all proceedings is GRANTED. Defendant
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need not respond to Plaintiff’s discovery at this time. Defendant SHALL file a status report within
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ten (10) days of the state court’s ruling on Plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandate.
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Plaintiff’s motion to amend, requested in his opposition, is DENIED WITHOUT
PREJUDICE to refiling once the stay is lifted.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:
/s/ Dennis
March 29, 2016
L. Beck
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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