James v. County of Sacramento et al

Filing 87

ORDER signed by Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 4/20/2015 ORDERING the plaintiff to meet and confer with the defendants and to prepare and file with the Court by 12/28/2015, a joint set of jury insrtuctions, a joint verdict form, and a joint statement of the case; WARNING the plaintiff that a failure to do so could lead to serious sanctions, up to and including, dismissal of this action; SETTING the Jury Trial for 1/11/2016 at 09:00 AM in Courtroom 7 (MCE) before Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr.; VACATING 66 Motion In Limine as moot; ORDERING that evidentiary or procedural motions be filed by 12/21/2015. (Michel, G.)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WILLIAM JAMES,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:10-cv-00664-MCE-DAD

v.

ORDER

COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO,

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Defendant.

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On March 17, 2015, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause (“OSC”) (ECF No.

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76) after Plaintiff failed to file his trial documents by the deadline set in the Supplemental

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Pretrial Order (ECF No. 64), failed to meet and confer with Defendant, and failed to

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collaborate on a joint set of jury instructions, a joint verdict form, and a joint statement of

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the case. Plaintiff was given ten days to respond. That same day, Plaintiff filed jury

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instructions, a verdict form, proposed voir dire questions, his witness list, and his exhibit

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list.

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On March 19, 2015, Defendant filed an unopposed ex parte request to continue

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the trial date, and the Court subsequently vacated the April 20, 2015 trial date. ECF No.

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84. A new trial date was not set.

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On March 26, 2015, Plaintiff filed his trial brief and a declaration responding to the

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OSC. In his declaration, Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se, explained that he had relied
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on a paralegal to file his documents by the March 16th deadline and was surprised to

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learn that the documents were not filed until the following day and that the trial brief was

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not filed at all. Plaintiff did not address why he had failed to meet and confer with

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Defendants or prepare a joint set of jury instructions, a joint verdict form, and a joint

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statement of the case. Nor did Plaintiff file an individual statement of the case with the

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Court.

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Despite this, the Court will not dismiss this action given Plaintiff’s quick response,

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the apparent clerical error that caused the delay in filing, and Plaintiff’s pro se status.

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However, Plaintiff is ordered to meet and confer with Defendant prior to the new trial

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date and to prepare and file with the Court a joint set of jury instructions, a joint verdict

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form, and a joint statement of the case two weeks prior to the new trial date. Failure to

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do so could lead to sanctions, up to and including, dismissal of this action.

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The trial for this action is hereby set for January 11, 2016. Therefore, the jointly

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prepared documents shall be due not later than December 28, 2015. The pending

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motions in limine (ECF No. 66) are VACATED AS MOOT. Evidentiary or procedural

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motions for the January 11, 2016 trial must be filed by December 21, 2015.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: April 20, 2015

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