Berman v. Modell

Filing 17

ORDER by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. Denying 15 Motion to Appear by Telephone (ndrS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/4/2015)

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John Berman
Mailing address for this case
PO Box 72101
Davis, CA 95617
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

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Appearing pro se

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JOHN BERMAN,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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DAVID MODELL,

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Defendant.

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Case No. 3:15-cv-04895-HSG
PLAINTIFF’S LETTER AND
DECLARATION RE: DKT. 12 AND
REQUEST FOR COURT CALL
APPEARANCE ON DEC. 10, 2015
Date:
Time:
Judge: Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.

Plaintiff(s),
Defendant(s).

Action Removed: October 26, 2015

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To the Court:

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Plaintiff received by mail and read Dkt. 12 on Thanksgiving Day. Plaintiff very much

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appreciates the Court’s conditional grant of ECF privileges. Below is Plaintiff’s declaration,

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pursuant to the conditional grant. Plaintiff had previously received a message from the Courtroom

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Deputy via a transcribed-to-email voice mail concerning the extension to file. Through a

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combination of factors, including the imperfect computerized transcription and Plaintiff’s reading

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on the small screen and just thinking more quickly than accurately, Plaintiff wound up believing

Berman v. Modell

Plaintiff’s Letter & Declaration

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3:15-cv-04895-HSG

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that the message was that both papers were due on Nov. 27. (The actual voice mail was

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unavailable at the time due to a very poor wireless signal, and the double due date just stuck.)

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Also in mid-November, Plaintiff had a very rare macbook failure sequence terminating

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with main-board failure. Though Plaintiff was well backed up (not perfectly) and the hard drives

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were apparently okay, the process of getting files even partially reorganized on a quickly-

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purchased, older, cheap, low-memory core duo-macbook just to resume asap, was laborious. And

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in the end, Plaintiff did not have all his tools (and what tools he had were not working well with

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the low, 2GB memory) because they were not compatible with the core duo set.

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All that said, and it is a lot, Plaintiff got bogged down in the end checking record references
(something Plaintiff tries to be meticulous about), but document organization on a mere 2GB
memory is near impossible, with Acrobat constantly quitting. In the end, the reply on remand was
late and the other one needed errata.
Plaintiff is planning to make a trip to San Francisco tomorrow to get hard copies to the
clerk, though two will be late.
Courtcall request: Plaintiff respectfully request courtcall permission for Dec. 10. Getting
to San Francisco and managing Plaintiff’s other obligations and managing the city parking are very
arduous for Plaintiff.
Plaintiff declares as follows. I, John Berman, declare:
1. The following facts are based on my personal knowledge, except those facts stated on
information and belief, and as to all such facts stated on information and belief, I am
informed and believe that the same are true and shall so provide the bases of that
information and belief. If called to testify, I would and could do so competently as
follows:
2. I have read and understood General Order 45. I will attempt to comply with the

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General Order and will so attempt to the best of my ability. I state, in full disclosure,

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that sometimes financial constraints and the sometimes impossible task, in my

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experience, of finding a courier will prevent the hard copies from arriving as required in

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the General Order.

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3. I declare that the foregoing is true and correct.

Berman v. Modell

Plaintiff’s Letter & Declaration

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3:15-cv-04895-HSG

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4. Executed this 1st day of December 2015 in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California
under penalty of perjury under applicable laws.

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Ju

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y wo o d
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NO

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S. Gillia

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m Jr.

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/s/John Berman
ED
DENIJohn Berman, Plaintiff

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UNIT
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Respectfully submitted,

S DISTRICT
TE
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Dated: December 1, 2015

FO

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D IS T IC T O
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Berman v. Modell

Plaintiff’s Letter & Declaration

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3:15-cv-04895-HSG