Bitton et al v. City and County of San Francisco et al

Filing 21

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART SECOND JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO EXTEND JURISDICTION OF ENE EVALUATOR IN ORDER TO CONDUCT ENE HEARING. Pursuant to stipulation, it is so ordered that ENE Evaluator Patrick Robbins' jurisdiction to complete the early neutral evaluation be extended until January 29, 2010. The Court makes no determination herein with respect to any request to extend pretrial deadlines. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on December 17, 2009. (mmclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/17/2009)

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DENNIS J. HERRERA, State Bar #139669 City Attorney JOANNE HOEPER, State Bar #114961 Chief Trial Deputy SEAN F. CONNOLLY, State Bar #152235 Deputy City Attorney Fox Plaza 1390 Market Street, 6th Floor San Francisco, California 94102-5408 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] E-Mail: [e-mail] Attorneys for Defendant CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO JOSEPH P. BRENT, State Bar #214459 DAVID LEE FIOL, State Bar #203546 Brent & Fiol, LLP 222 Kearny Street, Suite 650 San Francisco , CA 94108 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] E-Mail: [e-mail] Attorneys for Plaintiffs JEFFREY BITTON, MICHA BITTON & SANDRA BITTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA JEFFREY BITTON, MICHA BITTON AND SANDRA BITTON, Plaintiffs, vs. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, a municipal entity, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN DAVID LAZAR, POLICE OFFICER BURKE (SFPD BADGE NO. 2240), POLICE OFFICER BRENT BRADFORD (SFPD BADGE NO. 4199), POLICE OFFICER NG (SFPD BADGE NO. 338),POLICE OFFICER DOWKY (SFPD BADGE NO. 799), POLICE OFFICER MARON (SFPD BADGE NO. 1929), POLICE OFFICER NEWBECK (SFPD BADGE NO. 1691), POLICE OFFICER PAPALE (SFPD BADGE NO. 642), POLICE OFFICER
STIPULATION AND MOTION TO EXTEND ADR JURISDICTION; CASE NO. C08-5585 MMC

Case No. C08-5585 MMC SECOND JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO EXTEND JURISDICTION OF ENE EVALUATOR IN ORDER TO CONDUCT ENE HEARING; PROPOSED ORDER [STIPULATED] [CIVIL L.R. 7-11]

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JONES (SFPD BADGE NO. 852), POLICE OFFICER GARDEN (SFPD BADGE NO. 404), POLICE OFFICER MCKINNEY (SFPD BADGE NO. 4), POLICE OFFICER LIBERTA (SFPD BADGE NO. 682), and DOES 1-100, Defendants.

Pursuant to Local Rule 7-11 and ADR L.R. 5-4(b), the parties jointly file this stipulated Administrative Motion to extend the jurisdictional time of the evaluator in order to conduct an ENE Hearing.

BACKGROUND This is a civil rights action brought by the Jeffrey Bitton, Micha Bitton and Sandra Bitton against individual San Francisco police officers and the City and County of San Francisco. Plaintiffs contend that the Defendants violated their Fourth Amendment rights by making an illegal arrest, an unlawful entry into their home and using unlawful force, while the Defendants maintain that they had probable cause to arrest, that exigent circumstances justified a warrantless entry, and that any force used was lawful. The parties and the Court's ADR coordinator engaged in a teleconference regarding the timing of the ENE Hearing, the form of mandatory ADR selected by the parties. Following the conference, the Court appointed Charles E. Farnsworth as the ENE Evaluator and set the hearing for June 11, 2009. Due to conflicting schedules of the parties and evaluator, and the evaluator's extended vacation plan, the parties were unable to conduct the hearing. Further, defense counsel had a family medical emergency during that time that hampered scheduling of the matter. A subsequent hearing could not be rescheduled within the 90-day time limit prescribed by ADR Local Rules for conducting such hearing. On September 8, 2009, a further ADR phone conference was conducted, at which time the ADR coordinator recommended that the parties file a joint administrative motion seeking an extension of the ENE Evaluator's jurisdiction so that ADR efforts could ensue. The court extended the ENE STIPULATION AND MOTION TO EXTEND ADR 2 N:\LIT\LI2009\090798\00599378.DOC
JURISDICTION; CASE NO. C08-5585 MMC

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jurisdiction for an additional 60 days. In the ensuing 60 days, the parties attempted to schedule an ENE with the evaluator, but could not. In this same period of time, the parties consulted with the ADR administrator regarding the difficulty of scheduling an ENE with the evaluator then assigned. Due to issues and reasons unknown to the parties the ADR administrator recommended that the parties use a different evaluator. The parties agreed, and on or about November 24, 2009, the Court appointed another ENE evaluator, Patrick Robbins. The appointment was almost at the end of the ENE jurisdiction. On December 2, 2009, the parties held their joint phone conference with the new evaluator and all agreed to moved the court for a further extension of time to conduct the ENE. Accordingly, the parties file this joint motion and request an extension of time to conduct an ENE until January 31, 2010. The parties and evaluator have tentatively scheduled January 20, 2010 for an ENE conference. Fact discovery closes January 29, 2010. In the event that the case does not resolve at the ENE, the parties will also request by a separate stipulation a 58-day extension of all the deadlines in this case. That would be the first such request and the parties do not anticipate making any other requests for additional time. Dated: December 15, 2009 DENNIS J. HERRERA City Attorney JOANNE HOEPER Chief Trial Deputy

By: s/Sean Connolly SEAN F. CONNOLLY Deputy City Attorney Attorneys for Defendants CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, et al. Dated: December 15, 2009 BRENT & FIOL, LLP

By: s/Joseph Brent JOSEPH P. BRENT, ESQ. DAVID LEE FIOL, ESQ. Attorneys for plaintiffs JEFFREY BITTON, MICHA BITTON & SANDRA BITTON STIPULATION AND MOTION TO EXTEND ADR 3 N:\LIT\LI2009\090798\00599378.DOC
JURISDICTION; CASE NO. C08-5585 MMC

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STIPULATION AND MOTION TO EXTEND ADR JURISDICTION; CASE NO. C08-5585 MMC

ORDER Pursuant to stipulation, it is so Ordered that ENE Evaluator Patrick Robbins' jurisdiction to complete the early neutral evaluation be extended until January 29, 2010. The Court also extends the deadline for fact discovery to and including March 26, 2010. The Court makes no determination herein with respect to any request to extend the pretrial deadlines.

Date: December 17, 2009

The Honorable Maxine M. Chesney Judge of the United States District Court

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