King v. Martinez, et al.

Filing 86

ORDER Denying Plaintiff's Motions to Extend the Discovery Deadline to File a Motion to Compel re 82 , 83 , signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 12/21/17. (Gonzalez, R)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MARIO KING,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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W.S. WADKINS,

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Defendant.

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Case No. 1:16-cv-00433-LJO-SAB (PC)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONS TO
EXTEND THE DISCOVERY DEADLINE TO FILE
A MOTION TO COMPEL
[ECF Nos. 82, 83]

Plaintiff Mario King is a state prisoner and appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil
rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s two separate motions to extend the time to file a

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motion to compel, filed November 27, 2017. Defendant did not file an opposition and the time to do

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so has passed. Therefore, the motion is deemed submitted for review without oral argument. Local

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Rule 230(l).

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On August 23, 2016, the Court issued the discovery and scheduling order on August 23, 2016,

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setting the deadline for completion of all written discovery as April 23, 2017. (ECF No. 18.) The

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discovery and scheduling order provided that the deadline for the completion of all discovery,

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included the filing of all motions to compel. (Id. at 2.) “Therefore, discovery requests and deposition

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notices must be served sufficiently in advance of the discovery deadline to permit for a response and

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time to prepare and file a motion to compel.” (Id.)
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Prior to the expiration of the discovery deadlines, Defendants filed a motion to extend the

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discovery deadline on April 13, 2017. (ECF No. 40.) On April 17, 2017, the Court granted

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Defendant’s motion and extended the discovery deadline to May 8, 2017. (ECF No. 41.) Plaintiff

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thereafter sought an additional extension of time to provide responses to Defendant’s discovery

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requests on April 17, 2017. (ECF No. 42.) The Court granted Plaintiff’s requests and extended the

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discovery deadline to June 14, 2017. (ECF No. 43.)
On August 23, 2017, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel, and Defendant filed an opposition on

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August 30, 2017. On September 13, 2017, the Court denied Plaintiff’s motion to compel but extended

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the discovery and dispositive motion deadlines for the limited purpose of Defendant to respond to

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Plaintiff’s first set of interrogatories and first set of production of documents within forty-five days of

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the order. (ECF No. 74.)
On October 30, 2017, the Court granted Defendant’s request for an extension of time to

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November 3, 2017, to serve a response to Plaintiff’s discovery requests. (ECF No. 79.) Defendant

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timely responded to all of Plaintiff’s discovery requests. (ECF No. 81.)
Under Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a discovery and scheduling order

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controls the course of litigation unless the Court subsequently alters the original order. Fed R. Civ. P.

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16(d). Modification of a scheduling order requires a showing of good cause, Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b),

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and good cause requires a showing of due diligence, Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d

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604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). To establish good cause, the party seeking the modification of a scheduling

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order must generally show that even with the exercise of due diligence, they cannot meet the

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requirement of that order. Id. The court may also consider the prejudice to the party opposing the

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modification. Id. If the party seeking to amend the scheduling order fails to show due diligence the

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inquiry should end and the court should not grant the motion to modify. Zivkovic v. Southern

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California Edison, Co., 302 F.3d 1080, 1087 (9th Cir. 2002). A party may obtain relief from the

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court’s deadline date for discovery by demonstrating good cause for allowing further discovery. Fed.

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R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4).

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“Good cause may be found to exist where the moving party shows that it diligently assisted

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the court with creating a workable scheduling order, that it is unable to comply with the scheduling

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order’s deadlines due to matters that could not have reasonably bee foreseen at the time of the issuance

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of the scheduling order, and that it was diligent in seeking an amendment once it became apparent that

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the party could not comply with the scheduling order.” Kuschner Nationwide Credit, Inc., 256 F.R.D.

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684, 687 (E.D. Cal. 2009).

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Plaintiff fails to demonstrate good cause to extend the discovery deadline for the purpose of

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filing a motion to compel. As stated, the discovery deadline expired on June 14, 2017, and despite

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such deadline, the Court directed Defendants to file a response to Plaintiff’s first set of interrogatories

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and first set of production of documents, which has been done. Plaintiff has not explained how any of

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Defendant’s responses were improper or insufficient and has not demonstrated the he was diligent in

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conducting discovery. Plaintiff’s mere statement that the responses to his interrogatories were vague

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and ambiguous or that production of certain documents are exculpatory evidence in support of his

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case, fails to demonstrate good cause for an extension of the discovery deadline. Plaintiff cannot

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simply file a motion to compel because he does not like the responses provided by Defendant.

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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion for an extension of the discovery deadline is denied.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

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December 21, 2017
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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