James v. Oakland Police Department et al

Filing 39

ORDER TO STAY PROCEEDINGS (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 7/1/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DENNIS LAMAR JAMES, JR.,

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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No. C 13-011 SI (pr)

Plaintiff,

ORDER TO STAY PROCEEDINGS

v.
OAKLAND POLICE DEPT.; et al.,

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Defendants.
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In this pro se civil rights action, plaintiff has sued several Oakland police officers and the

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City of Oakland for the use of excessive force during his arrest on February 19, 2012, and has

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sued several doctors for deliberate indifference to his medical needs during his hospital visit after

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his arrest.

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Plaintiff has requested an extension of the deadline to file his opposition to the motion

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for summary judgment filed by defendant Dr. Liu. Defendant opposes the requested extension.

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Plaintiff also likely will need extended time to file a necessary amended complaint with regard

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to the other health care defendants.

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Plaintiff is currently at Napa State Hospital undergoing "psychiatric treatment" and "has

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no set date of release." Docket # 37. He was transferred from Santa Rita County Jail to Napa

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State Hospital pursuant to an order from the Alameda County Superior Court in or about late

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October 2013.

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hospitalization was scheduled for January 31, 2014, but was continued to August 1, 2014.

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See Docket # 37. Plaintiff expects to be released in August, although that is not a certainty.

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See id. Plaintiff states that he needs to do additional unspecified discovery to oppose the motion

See Docket # 26.

A state court hearing apparently pertaining to that

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for summary judgment. Docket # 26. He also requests that an attorney be appointed for him.

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Docket # 37.

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Plaintiff has several obligations pending in this action. He needs to file an opposition to

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Dr. Liu's motion for summary judgment. He also needs to file an amended complaint with

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regard to the other health care defendants because the court has granted their motion to dismiss

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for failure to state a claim. See Docket # 35. And, once the law enforcement defendants file a

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dispositive motion, he will need to file an opposition to that.
The circumstances of plaintiff's placement at Napa State Hospital that necessitate a

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continuance of the deadline for his opposition to the motion for summary judgment also support

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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temporarily halting the other activity in this action. This action can be paused while plaintiff is

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temporarily at Napa State Hospital, as it would be preferable that the plaintiff's competence not

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be in question during the course of these proceedings. The best course is to stay this action until

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plaintiff's release from Napa State Hospital, so that he can pursue his claims after being

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discharged from the hospital and after presumably being restored to competency. Mindful that

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the precise length of plaintiff's stay at Napa State Hospital is not within his control and is not

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certain, the court will hold a case management conference in five months if plaintiff remains at

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Napa State Hospital. This will enable the court to consider other options if plaintiff is going to

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be there on a long-term basis, so that the stay will not become a de facto dismissal. See

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generally Davis v. Walker, 745 F.3d 1303, 1306, 1311 (9th Cir. 2014). Also, plaintiff may by

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that time have more information about the nature and expected length of his hospitalization.

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Plaintiff has requested that counsel be appointed to represent him in this action. A district

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court has the discretion under 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(1) to designate counsel to represent an

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indigent civil litigant in exceptional circumstances. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328,

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1331 (9th Cir. 1986). This requires an evaluation of both the ability of the plaintiff to articulate

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his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved and the likelihood of

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success on the merits. See id. Neither of these factors is dispositive and both must be viewed

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together before deciding on a request for counsel under § 1915(e)(1). Plaintiff's hospitalization

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presents an unusual circumstance. However, plaintiff had no problem articulating his claims in
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this action (including municipal liability), at a time when he presumably had the same mental

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illness he now has. He also has filed several prior actions in which he has ably represented

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himself. There also appears to be a low likelihood of success on the merits. As to the excessive

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force claim, the complaint admits that plaintiff was "acting erratic and not responding to

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commands" when police approached him. Docket # 38 at 3.1 As to the medical care claim,

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plaintiff has been unable/unwilling to describe just what the medical care defendants did or

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failed to do that he contends amounted to deliberate indifference. See Docket # 35 at 3-4 & n.2.

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Plaintiff's temporary placement at Napa State Hospital does not overcome these facts that weigh

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against appointing one of the very few attorneys willing to take on a pro bono prisoner civil

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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rights case. Exceptional circumstances requiring the appointment of counsel are not present in

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this action.

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For the foregoing reasons:

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(1)

This action is STAYED and the clerk shall administratively CLOSE the

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action. Nothing further will occur in this action until the stay is lifted or until the case

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management conference mentioned below occurs.

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(2)

A case management conference will be held at 4:00 p.m. on December 11,

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2014. No later than November 24, 2014, plaintiff must provide to the court and opposing

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counsel a telephone number at which he may be reached for that case management conference.

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Counsel for Dr. Liu shall initiate the case management conference call, and connect plaintiff and

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counsel for the other defendants before connecting the conference call to the court.

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(3)

Plaintiff must notify the court and opposing counsel for all defendants

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within ten days of his release from Napa State Hospital, regardless of whether that release is to

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county jail, state prison or elsewhere.

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(4)

Defendant Liu's motion for summary judgment is DISMISSED without

prejudice to defendant filing the motion again after the stay is lifted. (Docket # 17.) The

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When the complaint was first scanned at the courthouse, page 3 inadvertently was omitted from
the scanned document, so the document later was re-scanned with page 3. The complaint missing page
3 is at Docket # 1, and the complaint with page 3 is at Docket # 38.
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dismissal of the motion says nothing about its merits and instead is done for scheduling

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purposes. When the stay is lifted, the court will set deadlines for dispositive motions and for

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plaintiff to file an amended complaint.

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(5)

Plaintiff's request for counsel is DENIED. (Docket # 37.)

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 1, 2014

_______________________
SUSAN ILLSTON
United States District Judge

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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