Utley v. Acevedo et al

Filing 36

***DISREGARD***ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's 34 Request for an Order without Prejudice signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 5/25/2016. (Sant Agata, S) Modified (filed in error, duplicate of 35 ) on 5/26/2016. (Gaumnitz, R).

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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VANCE UTLEY,

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No. 1:15-cv-01086-DAD-SAB
Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST
FOR AN ORDER WITHOUT PREJUDICE

v.
C.O. ACEVEDO, C.O. WIMER, and C.O.
LOPEZ,

(Doc No. 34)

Defendants.

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Plaintiff is a prisoner proceeding in this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and in forma
pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
On May 23, 2016, counsel for plaintiff filed a request seeking a court order requiring the

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warden at Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”) to permit counsel to bring a laptop computer into

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SVSP to access electronic records during a contact meeting at SVSP between counsel and his

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client. (ECF No. 34.) Therein, plaintiffs’ also requested that the meeting be scheduled in a room

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with electrical power for counsel’s laptop computer. (Doc No. 34.) Counsel indicated that he is

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meeting with plaintiff on May 26, 2016, at SVSP to review records and prepare for trial.

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Plaintiff’s counsel also represents that he will be at SVSP on June 14, 2016, to represent plaintiff

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at his deposition. Counsel asserts that he emailed his request to bring his laptop computer into

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SVSP for his interview with plaintiff to the SVSP litigation coordinator, but the request was
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denied. The denial simply stated that plaintiff’s counsel could print out all the records that he

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needs to bring. (Doc No. 34-1 at 4.) Plaintiff argues that there was no explanation for the denial

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of the request and that he has been allowed to bring his laptop into other California prisons under

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similar circumstances. Plaintiff also argues that the cost of printing all of the records in this case

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is prohibitive and that all of the records are available on plaintiff’s counsel’s laptop computer.

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The short time between the filing of counsel’s request and the scheduled May 26, 2016,

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meeting is insufficient to allow the court to address the request on the merits. The court has not

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been able to determine defendant’s position with respect to the request. Nor has the court had

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time to make inquiry to determine whether there is any legitimate reason for the litigation

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coordinator’s denial of counsel’s request. At first blush, there would appear to be none. Of

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course, for many years federal courts have employed an electronic case filing system under which

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paper files have been eliminated. The court is also aware of an expanding pilot program under

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which civil rights complaints filed by California prisoners in federal court are submitted

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electronically as well. It would appear likely that at plaintiff’s deposition in this case, the court

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reporter will be allowed to enter the prison with electronic equipment. There may well be many

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more examples of computers being allowed inside of California prisons depending on the

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circumstances. However, the record here has not been adequately developed nor has counsel

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adequately established the necessity of having his laptop computer available to him tomorrow

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during his meeting in order to adequately represent his client.
Accordingly, plaintiff’s request for the court to order the warden at Salinas Valley State

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Prison to permit plaintiff’s attorney to bring a laptop computer into Salinas Valley State Prison to

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access electronic records during his May 26, 2016 meeting with plaintiff and to allow that

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meeting to take place in a room that provides electrical power to the computer is denied without

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prejudice to the bringing of a fully supported motion sufficiently in advance of any future

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scheduled meeting or other proceeding inside of SVSP.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

May 25, 2016
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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