O'Keefe v. Cate

Filing 338

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 08/01/19 DENYING 334 motion to vacate or set aside the settlement. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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TIMOTHY O’KEEFE,

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No. 2: 11-cv-2659 KJM KJN P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

JERRY BROWN, et al.,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel, with a civil rights action pursuant

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to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court is plaintiff’s motion to vacate or set aside the

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settlement. (ECF No. 334.) For the reasons stated herein, plaintiff’s motion is denied.

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On September 11, 2018, a settlement action in this action was held. (ECF No. 337.) This
action settled. As part of the settlement, defendants agreed to pay plaintiff $5,000. (Id. at 4-5.)

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On March 11, 2019, plaintiff filed a letter with the court stating that on January 25, 2019,

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two checks from the settlement, for $1050 and $3050, were deposited in his inmate trust account.

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(ECF No. 328.) Plaintiff alleged that later that day, $1050 was “taken” from his account. (Id.)

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Plaintiff stated that he was later informed that the $1050 taken from his account on January 25,

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2019, was applied toward his restitution. (Id.)

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In the March 11, 2019, letter, plaintiff stated that many years ago his father paid his
$5,000 restitution. (Id.) For this reason, plaintiff alleged that the $1050 should not have been
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taken from his trust account and applied toward his restitution. (Id.)
On March 28, 2019, defendants filed a response to plaintiff’s March 11, 2019 letter. (ECF

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No. 330.) Defendants state that plaintiff had $1050 in restitution obligations, along with a 5%

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administrative fee, from a previous CDCR number. (Id.)

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On July 8, 2019, plaintiff filed the pending motion to vacate or set aside the settlement.

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(ECF No. 334.) Plaintiff argues that the settlement should be set aside or vacated because

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defendants failed to inform him that he still owed $1,000 in restitution. (Id.) Plaintiff argues that

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had he known that he still owed $1000 in restitution at the time of the settlement conference, this

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information would have “factored into the settlement negotiations.” (Id.)

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At the settlement conference, the undersigned informed plaintiff that any settlement

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proceeds must first be applied against any outstanding restitution. (ECF No. 337 at 5.) The

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undersigned stated,
Mr. O’Keefe believes that all of his outstanding restitution has been
paid, but I want to make it clear that there’s a $5,000 settlement
regardless of any restitution that you owe. So if, for example, you
have been in and out of CDCR and you, in fact, owe $10,000 in
restitution [that] is not a basis for you to then seek to set aside the
settlement or refuse to sign documents saying, “Oh, I thought I was
getting this money in my pocket.”

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(Id.)

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Plaintiff indicated that he understood this term of the settlement. (Id. at 9.)

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As the undersigned informed plaintiff at the settlement conference, the fact that plaintiff

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owed restitution of which he was unaware would not be grounds to vacate or set aside the

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settlement. Therefore, plaintiff’s motion to vacate or set aside the settlement on the grounds that

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he owed $1000 in restitution of which he was unaware is without merit.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to vacate or set aside the

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settlement (ECF No. 334) is denied.

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Dated: August 1, 2019

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Ok2659.set(3)
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