Welch v. Butte County Jail et al

Filing 27

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 09/01/17 ordering that plaintiff's 08/28/17 motion 26 is placed in the court file and disregarded. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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EDWARD ROY WELCH,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

No. 2:17-cv-0517 MCE KJN P

ORDER

BUTTE COUNTY JAIL, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff has filed a document entitled “Motion to Produce Discovery.” (ECF No. 26.)

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Plaintiff is informed that court permission is not necessary for discovery requests and that neither

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discovery requests served on an opposing party nor that party’s responses should be filed until

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such time as a party becomes dissatisfied with a response and seeks relief from the court pursuant

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to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Discovery requests between the parties shall not be filed

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with the court unless, and until, they are at issue. The court cannot conduct discovery on behalf

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of any party.

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Moreover, it appears that plaintiff seeks to discover the identity of various John Doe

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defendants. However, discovery requests may only be propounded to parties to the lawsuit. At

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present, plaintiff has not returned the service of process documents for defendant Stratton, so

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defendant Stratton has not yet been served with process or appeared in this action. Plaintiff may

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not obtain discovery from defendant Stratton until defendant Stratton has filed an answer and the

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court has issued its discovery and scheduling order. It appears that plaintiff intends to amend his

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complaint to raise allegations against John Doe defendants. However, plaintiff may choose to

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return the documents for service of process on defendant Stratton, then seek to discover the

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identifies of the John Doe defendants through discovery propounded to defendant Stratton. Once

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plaintiff has identified the John Doe defendants, plaintiff may then move to amend his complaint

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to include allegations against the doe defendants. The U.S. Marshal cannot serve John Doe

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defendants; plaintiff must provide the true name of the individual for the U.S. Marshal to serve

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process. (See also ECF No. 9 at 3 n.1.)

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s August 28, 2017 motion (ECF

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No. 26) is placed in the court file and disregarded. Plaintiff is cautioned that further filing of

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discovery requests or responses, except as required by rule of court, may result in an order of

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sanctions, including, but not limited to, a recommendation that this action be dismissed.

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Dated: September 1, 2017

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/welc0517.411

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