Garraway v. Ciufo et al

Filing 98

ORDER DENYING 66 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel, Without Prejudice signed by Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin on 3/9/2020. (Jessen, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MITCHELL GARRAWAY,

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Plaintiff,

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vs.

1:17-cv-00533-DAD-GSA-PC
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
TO COMPEL, WITHOUT PREJUDICE
(ECF No. 66.)

JACQUILINE CIUFO, et al.,

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Defendants.

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I.

BACKGROUND

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Plaintiff is a federal prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action pursuant to

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Bivens vs. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). This case now proceeds with Plaintiff’s

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original Complaint filed on April 17, 2017, against defendants Jacqueline Ciufo (Unit Manager),

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K. Miller (Corrections Officer), and Lieutenant J. Zaragoza (collectively, “Defendants”), for

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failure to protect Plaintiff in violation of the Eighth Amendment. (ECF No. 1.)

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On November 27, 2018, the court issued a discovery and scheduling order setting forth a

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discovery deadline of May 25, 2019, and a dispositive motions deadline of July 27, 2019. (ECF

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No. 26.) On February 26, 2019, Defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings,

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concerning whether Plaintiff’s Bivens claims were barred under Ziglar v. Abassi, 137 S.Ct. 1843

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(2017). (ECF No. 42.) On April 1, 2019, the court issued an order staying discovery with the

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exception of discovery related to whether Plaintiff failed to state a claim under Abassi, pending
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resolution of the motion for judgment on the pleadings. (ECF No. 65.) The parties were advised

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that if they had been served with discovery requests that did not relate to Abassi they should

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retain the discovery for later consideration after the stay had been lifted. (ECF No. 65 at 3:22-

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23.)

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On April 1, 2019, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel. (ECF No. 66.) The motion to

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compel did not concern the Abassi issue, and Defendants have not yet filed a response to the

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motion.

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On February 21, 2020, the court resolved Defendants’ motion for judgment on the

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pleadings. (ECF No. 94.) Accordingly, on March 4, 2020, the court issued an order lifting the

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stay of discovery, setting a new discovery deadline of June 5, 2020, and setting a new dispositive

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motions deadline of August 5, 2020. (ECF No. 97.)
Plaintiff’s motion to compel is now before the court.

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II.

MOTION TO COMPEL

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A.

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The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern discovery in this civil action. The discovery

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process is subject to the overriding limitation of good faith, and callous disregard of discovery

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responsibilities cannot be condoned. Asea, Inc. v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 669 F.2d 1242,

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1246 (9th Cir. 1981) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Parties may obtain discovery

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regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense, including the

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existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any documents or other

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tangible things and the identity and location of persons who know of any discoverable matter.

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Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) (quotation marks omitted). For good cause, the court may order

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discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action. Id. (quotation

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marks omitted). Relevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears

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reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Id. (quotation marks

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omitted).

Legal Standards

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Pursuant to Rule 37(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party propounding

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discovery may seek an order compelling disclosure when an opposing party has failed to respond
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or has provided evasive or incomplete responses. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(3)(B). “[A]n evasive or

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incomplete disclosure, answer, or response is to be treated as a failure to disclose, answer, or

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respond.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(4). The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating “actual

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and substantial prejudice” from the denial of discovery. See Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732,

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751 (9th Cir. 2002) (citations omitted).

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Generally, if the responding party objects to a discovery request, the party moving to

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compel bears the burden of demonstrating why the objections are not justified. E.g., Grabek v.

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Dickinson, No. CIV S-10-2892 GGH P, 2012 WL 113799, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 13, 2012);

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Womack v. Virga, No.CIV S-11-1030 MCE EFB P, 2011 WL 6703958, at *3; Mitchell v. Felker,

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No. CV 08-119RAJ, 2010 WL 3835765, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Sep. 29, 2010); Ellis v. Cambra, No.

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1:02-cv-05646-AWI-SMS PC, 2008 WL 860523, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2008). This requires

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the moving party to inform the court which discovery requests are the subject of the motion to

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compel, and, for each disputed response, why the information sought is relevant and why the

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responding party’s objections are not meritorious. Id. However, the court is vested with broad

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discretion to manage discovery and notwithstanding these procedures, and Plaintiff is entitled to

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leniency as a pro se litigator; therefore, to the extent possible, the court endeavors to resolve his

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motion to compel on its merits. Hunt v. County of Orange, 672 F.3d 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2012);

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Surfvivor Media, Inc. v. Survivor Productions, 406 F.3d 625, 635 (9th Cir. 2005); Hallett, 296

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F.3d at 751.
Plaintiff’s Motion

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B.

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Plaintiff argues that Defendants have provided evasive responses to his Requests for

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Admissions and Interrogatories, which are attached as exhibits to the motion to compel. Plaintiff

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asserts that Defendants refuse to supply him with the names and current places of BOP

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employment for potential witnesses whose testimony Plaintiff believes is crucial to his case.

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Plaintiff claims that Defendants have denied him a reasonable opportunity to present evidence

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that he believes is pertinent to his case. Plaintiff requests a court order compelling Defendants

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to disclose all of the information Plaintiff requested in his Requests for Admissions and

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Interrogatories attached to his motion to compel as Exhibits E, F, G, and H.
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C.

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Plaintiff requests the court to compel Defendants to provide responses to 25 Requests for

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Admissions, along with 25 Interrogatories attached to his motion to compel as Exhibits E, F, G,

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and H. (ECF No. 66 at 30-42.)1 Also attached to the motion as Exhibits A, B, C, and D are

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Defendants’ prior responses to the discovery requests. (ECF No. 66 at 5-29.)

Discussion

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Defendants object to every one of Plaintiff’s Requests for Admissions, but they also

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admitted or denied each of the Requests. Defendants have only made objections to each of

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Plaintiff’s Interrogatories and have not provided any responses to the Interrogatories.

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Plaintiff failed to individually address the discovery responses at issue in his motion to

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compel. Thus, he has not put Defendants on notice as to the alleged deficiencies of each of their

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responses. Here, Plaintiff’s vague assertions that Defendants have provided evasive responses,

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refused to supply him with the names and current places of employment for potential witnesses,

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and denied him a reasonable opportunity to present his evidence, are not sufficient to support the

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motion to compel. Plaintiff does not individually address any particular discovery request and

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does not demonstrate that any specific response thereto is deficient. Consequently, Plaintiff’s

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motion to compel shall be denied, without prejudice to renewal of the motion within thirty days.

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Plaintiff is advised that any future motion to compel must individually analyze each

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discovery request and response and set forth arguments to explain how Defendants’ objections

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to each request are improper. Plaintiff’s motion to compel must notify Defendants how each

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response is deficient. Specifically, the motion to compel must: 1) set forth each disputed request

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exactly as Plaintiff phrased it in his original request, 2) set forth Defendants’ response exactly as

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Defendants phrased it in their original response, and 3) address each objection made by

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Defendants and explain how each objection is improper. Plaintiff may not raise his arguments

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for the first time in his reply brief, and may not simply file a motion to compel that identifies the

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discovery requests in dispute and then provide only vague and general conclusions regarding the

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inadequacy of Defendants’ responses.

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All page numbers cited herein are those assigned by the court's CM/ECF system and are not
based on the parties’ pagination of their briefing materials.

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As the moving party, Plaintiff bears the burden of informing the court which discovery

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requests are the subject of his motion to compel and, for each disputed response, why

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Defendants’ objection is not justified. Plaintiff has not done so. Plaintiff may not simply assert

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that he has served discovery requests, that he is dissatisfied with Defendants’ objections, and that

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he wants an order compelling responses. For these reasons, Plaintiff’s motion to compel shall be

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denied as procedurally defective, without prejudice to renewal of the motion at a later stage of

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the proceedings.

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III.

CONCLUSION

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Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to compel,

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filed on April 1, 2019, is DENIED as procedurally defective, without prejudice to renewal of the

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motion at a later stage of the proceedings.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

March 9, 2020

/s/ Gary S. Austin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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