Pearson et al v. State of California et al

Filing 45

Discovery Order re 44 MOTION for Sanctions AND CONTEMPT AGAINST NONPARTY JOHN C. HISERODT, M.D., Ph.D. In the attached order, the court directs the disputants in the dispute at ECF No. 44 to engage in the joint-letter-brief process described in ECF No. 43 with the expectation that they ought to be able to resolve the dispute next week. This is a faster process than the five-week process that attends the filing of a motion. Because the defendants say they tried to work out the dispute informally, the court leaves the motion and 10/27/22 hearing in place with the expectation that the parties ought to be able to resolve this informally. The court asks the parties to provide the nonparty with a copy of the order and this accompanying docket entry. (Beeler, Laurel) (Filed on 9/18/2022)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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San Francisco Division

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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AKAYSIA PEARSON, et al.,

Case No. 20-cv-05726-CRB (LB)

Plaintiffs,

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DISCOVERY ORDER

v.

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STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al.,

Re: ECF No. 44

Defendants.

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The defendants moved to compel a nonparty John Hiserodt’s s compliance with a subpoena

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issued to him to produce information about a second-opinion autopsy that he performed — at the

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request of the guardian ad litem for plaintiff N.P — on decedent Coltrane Pearson.1 The trial judge

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previously referred discovery disputes to the undersigned, and the court gave notice of its

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discovery-dispute procedures.2

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For clarity, for the purposes of third-party subpoenas and discovery disputes, the court’s

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standing order’s instructions to “parties” is meant to refer to the participants in a third-party

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discovery dispute (even if they are not formal parties to the underlying litigation). The court views

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the joint-letter-brief process as more efficient than the five-week motion process because parties

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Mot. – ECF No. 44. Citations refer to material in the Electronic Case File (ECF); pinpoint citations
are to the ECF-generated page numbers at the top of documents.

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Orders – ECF Nos. 41, 43.

ORDER – No. 20-cv-05726-CRB (LB) 

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can (1) talk with each other, see each other’s positions, try to find areas of compromise, and work

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out disputes amongst themselves, and (2) narrow, sharpen, and focus the issues they cannot

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resolve before they present those issues to the court. See Synopsys, Inc. v. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.,

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No. 17-cv-00561-WHO (LB), 2018 WL 2294281, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 21, 2018). It usually is

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faster to file a letter brief. The approach also avoids sanctions because the more streamlined

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process usually resolves the disputes without a formal motion to compel. The court hopes that

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parties (and third parties) approach the process in good faith.
The court directs the parties to engage in that process. Because the defendants describe their

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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unsuccessful attempt to resolve the dispute informally, the court does not follow its customary

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practice of denying the motion without prejudice in favor of the letter-brief process.3 The motion

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remains on calendar, and the briefing schedule remains in effect. But the court hopes that the

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pending motion provides some incentive for the parties to work out the dispute next week.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: September 18, 2022
____________________

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LAUREL BEELER
United States Magistrate Judge

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Mot. – ECF No. 44 at 2.

ORDER – No. 20-cv-05726-CRB (LB)

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