Hoa v. Cate et al
Filing
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ORDER by Judge Edward M. Chen granting 79 Cate's Motion for Relief from Nondispositive Pretrial Order of Magistrate Judge (emclc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/15/2013)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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PAUL HOA,
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Plaintiff,
ORDER GRANTING CATE’S MOTION
FOR RELIEF FROM NONDISPOSITIVE PRETRIAL ORDER OF
MAGISTRATE JUDGE
v.
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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No. C-12-2078 EMC
MATHEW CATE, et al.,
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Defendants.
___________________________________/
(Docket No. 79)
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Currently pending before the Court is Matthew Cate’s motion for relief from a discovery
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order issued by Judge Cousins. See Docket No. 75 (order). Having considered the parties’ briefs, as
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well as all other evidence of record, the Court hereby GRANTS Mr. Cate’s motion.
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I.
FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Previously, this Court issued an order in which it dismissed all remaining claims that
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Plaintiff Paul Hoa had asserted against Mr. Cate. The dismissal, however, was without prejudice
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and Mr. Hoa was given leave to amend. See Docket No. 42 (order). In the same order, the Court
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authorized Mr. Hoa to take narrowly tailored and focused discovery – in essence, so that Mr. Hoa
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could have an opportunity to explore which prison-affiliated individuals should arguably be held
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liable for the injuries he suffered. See also Docket No. 64 (Order at 1) (“permit[ting] Mr. Hoa to
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conduct discovery to explore whether there is a plausible basis for liability on the part of an
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employee or supervisor at the prison”). Based on the results of that discovery, Mr. Hoa was to file a
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second amended complaint “including all Defendants [he] wishes to name, as well as sufficient facts
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supporting their liability.” Docket No. 42 (Order at 2-3); see also Docket No.
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Mr. Cate subsequently filed a motion for clarification, in which he asked whether he was to
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participate in the above-referenced discovery as a party or as a nonparty. Mr. Cate noted, for
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example, that discovery rules with respect to nonparties differ from the discovery rules with respect
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to parties – e.g., interrogatories may be served on the latter, but not the former. See Docket No. 66
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(motion). Judge Cousins issued an order on June 18, 2013, in which he held that, “[f]or purposes of
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the ‘narrowly tailored and focused discovery’ ordered by Judge Chen, [Mr.] Cate will be treated as a
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party to this case.” Docket No. 75 (Order at 1). Mr. Cate now challenges this ruling by Judge
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Cousins.
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A.
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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II.
DISCUSSION
Legal Standard
Under federal law, “[a] non-dispositve order entered by a magistrate [judge] must be deferred
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to unless it is ‘clearly erroneous or contrary to law.’” Grimes v. City & County of San Francisco,
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951 F.2d 236, 241 (9th Cir. 1991). When a district court reviews a magistrate judge’s order, it “may
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not simply substitute its judgment for that of the [magistrate judge].” Id.
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B.
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Contrary to Law
Mr. Cate contends that Judge Cousins’s ruling was contrary to law because, after this Court
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dismissed all remaining claims against him in November 2012, he was no longer a party to this
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lawsuit and therefore could only be subject to discovery as a nonparty. Mr. Cate does not dispute
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that Mr. Hoa has the right to amend his complaint such that it is possible that he will be renamed as
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a defendant in the amended complaint. However, Mr. Cate underscores that, at this juncture in the
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proceedings, he is still a nonparty.
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In response, Mr. Hoa argues that Judge Cousins’s decision was not contrary to law and in
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fact is in accordance with Ninth Circuit law as established in Telluride Management Solutions, Inc.
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v. Telluride Investment Group, 55 F.3d 463, 466 (9th Cir. 1995).
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Because Telluride is the sole authority cited by Mr. Hoa, a brief discussion of the case is
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worthwhile. In Telluride, attorneys of a defendant were sanctioned after their client failed to appear
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at a court-ordered deposition. The attorneys argued that they were justified in not having their client
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appear because, prior to the deposition, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack
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of subject matter jurisdiction. More specifically, the court found that the named plaintiff – a limited
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partnership – had no standing to assert the claims for securities violations because it was not a
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purchaser or a seller; “[r]ather, the individual limited partners needed to be named in the complaint.”
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Id. at 465. The plaintiff was given leave to amend to address this deficiency.
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The Ninth Circuit rejected the attorneys’ argument. It noted first that a dismissal of a
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complaint is not necessarily the same thing as a dismissal of the action. See id. at 466 (stating that
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“[d]ismissal of the complaint is not considered a final appealable order ‘unless circumstances make
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it clear that the court concluded that the action could not be saved by any amendment of the
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complaint’”). The court then stated that, in the case under consideration, the dismissal for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction did not constitute a dismissal of action because the standing problem was
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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“a defect in form only” – i.e., an “omission of the names of the individual limited partners from the
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complaint” – and the plaintiff was given leave to amend. Id. “Because we conclude the action was
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still pending at the time scheduled for the deposition, we also conclude that the parties were still
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subject to the [court] order compelling [the defendant’s] appearance at the deposition.” Id.
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Contrary to what Mr. Hoa argues, Telluride is not dispositive. Telluride establishes at best
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that the instant case is still ongoing (i.e., because he was given leave to amend) such that discovery
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may still take place, but it does not address the specific issue of whether a party, once dismissed
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(with leave to amend) based on insufficient factual allegations, should thereafter be treated as a party
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or a nonparty for purposes of discovery. Notably, in Telluride, the defect in the complaint was a
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defect in form only. That is not the case here. The Court dismissed the remaining claims against
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Mr. Cate because Mr. Hoa had failed to “make any specific allegations about how [Mr.] Cate’s
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conduct caused [Mr. Hoa’s] constitutional deprivation, beyond conclusory statements regarding his
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knowledge of prison overcrowding.” Docket No. 42 (Order at 2).
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The Court thus agrees with Mr. Cate that, at least at this juncture in the proceedings, he is not
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a party to the action, and therefore discovery may be taken of him only in his capacity as a nonparty.
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Thus, e.g., any interrogatories propounded by Mr. Hoa on Mr. Cate are improper – again, at this
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juncture in the proceedings. The Court notes that this should not work any prejudice on Mr. Hoa
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because there are still other methods available to him so that he can take discovery from Mr. Cate –
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i.e., a subpoena for testimony and/or documents. The Court also notes that restricted discovery with
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respect to Mr. Cate even if he were a party would not be inconsistent with other Ninth Circuit case
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law. See, e.g., B.R.S. Land Investors v. United States, 596 F.2d 353, 356 (9th Cir. 1979) (stating that
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“[t]he district court did not err by denying appellants discovery after their original complaint was
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dismissed with leave to amend[;] [a] district court may properly exercise its discretion to deny
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discovery where, as here, it is convinced that the plaintiff will be unable to state a claim upon which
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relief can be granted”); Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 751 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that a trial
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court is vested with broad discretion to permit or deny discovery and a “decision to deny discovery
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will not be disturbed except upon the clearest showing that denial of discovery results in actual and
substantial prejudice to the complaining litigant”) (internal quotation marks omitted).
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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III.
CONCLUSION
Because the Court finds that Judge Cousins’s ruling was contrary to law, the Court grants
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Mr. Cate’s motion for relief. Mr. Cate shall participate in discovery but, at this point in the
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proceedings, his participation is that of a nonparty.
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This order disposes of Docket No. 79.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: July 15, 2013
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_________________________
EDWARD M. CHEN
United States District Judge
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