Womack v. Windsor, et al

Filing 44

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 9/7/2016 DENYING plaintiff's 39 motion to compel. (Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RODNEY JEROME WOMACK,

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No. 2:15-cv-0533 KJN P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

J. WINDSOR, et al.,

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Defendants.

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I. Introduction
Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se. The instant action proceeds on claims that

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defendants Dr. Windsor, Dr. Lankford, Dr. Lee and T. Mahoney were deliberately indifferent to

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plaintiff’s serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment, in connection with

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plaintiff’s pain management in lieu of receiving further ankle surgery, once he was transferred to

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High Desert State Prison (“HDSP”) on March 18, 2014. Plaintiff’s motion to compel further

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responses to his request for production of documents is before the court. As discussed below,

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plaintiff’s motion is denied.

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II. Standards

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Under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “a party seeking discovery may
move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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37(a)(3)(B). The court may order a party to provide further responses to an “evasive or

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incomplete disclosure, answer, or response.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(4). “District courts have

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‘broad discretion to manage discovery and to control the course of litigation under Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 16.’” Hunt v. Cnty. of Orange, 672 F.3d 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2012) (quoting

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Avila v. Willits Envtl. Remediation Trust, 633 F.3d 828, 833 (9th Cir. 2011)).

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The reach of Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs requests for

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production, “extends to all relevant documents, tangible things and entry upon designated land or

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other property.” Clark v. Vega Wholesale Inc., 181 F.R.D. 470, 472-73 (1998), citing 8A

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C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2206, at 381. Plaintiff bears the burden

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of informing the court (1) which discovery requests are the subject of his motion to compel, (2)

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which of the responses are disputed, (3) why he believes the response is deficient, (4) why

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defendants’ objections are not justified, and (5) why the information he seeks through discovery

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is relevant to the prosecution of this action. McCoy v. Ramirez, 2016 WL 3196738 at *1 (E.D.

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Cal. 2016); Ellis v. Cambra, 2008 WL 860523, at *4 (E.D. Cal. 2008) (“Plaintiff must inform the

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court which discovery requests are the subject of his motion to compel, and, for each disputed

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response, inform the court why the information sought is relevant and why defendant’s objections

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are not justified.”). Also, Rule 34 requires that the party upon whom a request is served “be in

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possession, custody, or control of the requested item.” Clark, 181 F.R.D. at 473, citing Estate of

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Young v. Holmes, 134 F.R.D. 291, 293 (D. Nev.1991). Under Rule 34, “[c]ontrol is defined as

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the legal right to obtain documents upon demand. [Citation.] The party seeking production of the

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documents . . . bears the burden of proving that the opposing party has such control.” U.S. Int’l

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Union of Petroleum and Indus. Workers, AFL-CIO, 870 F.2d 1450, 1452 (9th Cir. 1989); see also

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In re Citric Acid Lit., 191 F.3d 1090, 1108 (9th Cir. 1999) (discussing the same issue in a Rule 45

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context).

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III. Discussion

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Defendants first object that plaintiff failed to meet and confer prior to filing the motion, as

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required by Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff did not file a reply to the

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opposition. Plaintiff is informed that even if he disagreed with defendants’ responses, he was still
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required to attempt to resolve his discovery disputes prior to filing the motion to compel. In any

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event, for the reasons discussed herein, plaintiff’s motion to compel is not well-taken.

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The undersigned agrees with defendants that plaintiff has not met his burden here. First,

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plaintiff did not provide a copy of the discovery requests with defendants’ responses, and in

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requests no. 1 and no. 2, plaintiff changed the wording of the discovery request submitted to the

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court. Discovery closed on July 29, 2016, and plaintiff was required to propound all discovery

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requests 60 days prior to July 29, 2016. Thus, to the extent plaintiff attempted to seek additional

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discovery, his requests are untimely. Second, as to those documents that were produced by

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defendants, plaintiff failed to identify what responses were inadequate and to explain why. Third,

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as to those documents sought that are equally available to plaintiff, plaintiff does not dispute that

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such records are available to him. Plaintiff has not demonstrated that he sought such documents

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but was denied. Fourth, plaintiff fails to show how medical records pre-dating his first ankle

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surgery in 2009, or following his second ankle surgery in September of 2015, are relevant to the

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claims at issue here. Finally, plaintiff failed to demonstrate how his request number 8, seeking

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“any and all correctional custody staff records, committee actions, [and] disciplinary write-ups

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pertaining to plaintiff while he was incarcerated at [HDSP] from 2013 through 2016” are relevant

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to the instant claims.

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For all of the above reasons, plaintiff’s motion to compel is denied.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to compel (ECF No. 39)

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is denied.

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Dated: September 7, 2016

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/woma0533.mtc

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