Pourya Malek v. Jeffery Green et al
Filing
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ORDER (1) DENYING 19 DEFENDANTS' ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO VACATE AND STAY CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE AND ASSOCIATED DEADLINES AND (2) CONTINUING CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE. Signed by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on 3/30/2017. Initial Case Management Conference set for 8/10/2017 11:00 AM in Courtroom 3, 5th Floor, San Jose.(blflc2S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/30/2017)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
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POURYA MALEK,
Plaintiff,
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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v.
JEFFERY GREEN, et al.,
Defendants.
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Case No. 17-cv-00263-BLF
ORDER (1) DENYING DEFENDANTS'
ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO
VACATE AND STAY CASE
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE AND
ASSOCIATED DEADLINES AND (2)
CONTINUING CASE MANAGEMENT
CONFERENCE
[Re: ECF 19]
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Defendants Jeffery Green, Lance Sandri, and Elisardo Favela (collectively, “Defendants”)
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filed a motion to vacate and stay the case management conference (“CMC”) scheduled for June 8,
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2017, as well as all discovery deadlines associated with the CMC pending resolution of
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Defendants’ motion to dismiss. Mot., ECF 19. For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s
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request for a stay of discovery is DENIED. However, the Court CONTINUES the CMC to
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August 10, 2017, at 11:00 a.m.
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This case arises from an alleged search and seizure of Plaintiff Pourya Malek in his home
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on February 4, 2016. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF 1. Plaintiff brings claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and
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1988, alleging violations of his First, Second, and Fourth Amendment rights under the United
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States Constitution, as well as the laws and Constitution of the State of California. Id. Defendants
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filed a motion to dismiss on February 22, 2017, and approximately one month later filed the
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instant motion. ECF 15, 19.
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“The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for automatic or blanket stays of
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discovery when a potentially dispositive motion is pending.” Tradebay, LLC v. eBay, Inc., 278
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F.R.D. 597, 600 (D. Nev. 2011). “Had the Federal Rules contemplated that a motion to dismiss
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under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(6) would stay discovery, the Rules would contain a provision to that
effect. In fact, such a notion is directly at odds with the need for expeditious resolution of
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litigation.” Gray v. First Winthrop Corp., 133 F.R.D. 39, 40 (N.D. Cal. 1990). However, a
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district court does have “wide discretion in controlling discovery,” Little v. City of Seattle, 863
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F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 1988), and that discretion extends to staying discovery upon a showing of
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“good cause,” see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1)(A). Good cause for staying discovery may exist when
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the district court is “‘convinced that the plaintiff will be unable to state a claim for relief.’”
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Wenger v. Monroe, 282 F.3d 1068, 1077 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting Wood v. McEwen, 644 F.2d 797,
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801 (9th Cir. 1981)); see also Tradebay, 278 F.R.D. at 601 (“Staying discovery when a court is
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convinced that the plaintiff will be unable to state a claim for relief furthers the goal of efficiency
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for the court and the litigants.”). Under Ninth Circuit law, “[a] party seeking a stay of discovery
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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carries the heavy burden of making a ‘strong showing’ why discovery should be denied.” Gray,
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133 F.R.D. at 40 (citation omitted).
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Courts in this district have applied a two-prong test to determine whether discovery should
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be stayed pending resolution of a dispositive motion. See, e.g., Gibbs v. Carson, No. 13-0860,
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2014 WL172187, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2014); Hamilton v. Rhoads, No. C 11-0227 RMW
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(PR), 2011 WL 5085504, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2011); Pac. Lumber Co. v. Nat’l Union Fire
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Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 220 F.R.D. 349, 351 (N.D. Cal. 2003). First, a pending motion must be
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potentially dispositive of the entire case, or at least dispositive on the issue at which discovery is
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directed. Pac. Lumber Co., 220 F.R.D. at 351 (citation omitted). Second, the court must
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determine whether the pending motion can be decided absent discovery. Id. at 352 (citation
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omitted). “If the Court answers these two questions in the affirmative, a protective order may
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issue. However, if either prong of this test is not established, discovery proceeds.” Id. In
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applying this two-factor test, the court must take a “preliminary peek” at the merits of the pending
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dispositive motion to assess whether a stay is warranted. Tradebay, 278 F.R.D. at 602.
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Defendants seek a stay of discovery because according to them, their motion to dismiss is
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dispositive of the entire case and can be decided without discovery. Mot. 2. Specifically,
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Defendants contend that qualified immunity and multiple state law immunities bar Plaintiffs’
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claims, and that qualified immunity “confers upon officials a right, not merely to avoid standing
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trial but also to avoid the burdens of such pretrial matters as discovery.” Id. (citing and quoting
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Dunn v. Castro, 621 F.3d 1196, 1199 (9th Cir. 2010) (citations and internal quotation marks
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omitted)). Defendants also assert that lead counsel will be on paternity leave from April 3, 2017,
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through June 5, 2017, and that the current discovery, meet-and-confer, and ADR deadline
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associated with the June 8 CMC overlap with his paternity leave. Mot. 4; Rogoyski Decl. ¶ 4,
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ECF 19-1.
In opposition, Malek argues that Defendants’ motion is not necessarily dispositive. Opp’n
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3, ECF 31. To that end, Malek disputes Defendants’ assertion that qualified immunity or state law
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immunities apply to Plaintiff’s state law claim. Id. Moreover, Plaintiff challenges Defendants’
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assertion that no discovery should be allowed in this action until after Defendants’ preliminary
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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qualified immunity arguments are resolved. Id. at 2. Instead, Malek argues that because the
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motion is unlikely to be dispositive, discovery should be allowed to proceed so that he can resolve
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this case expeditiously. Id. at 2–3. To accommodate defense counsel’s paternity leave, Malek
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offered to limit any discovery to only written discovery and the exchange of initial disclosures,
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and to postpone the CMC. Id. at 4.
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Although the Court finds probable that the motion to dismiss could be decided without
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discovery, it is unclear whether Defendants’ motion to dismiss will be dispositive of the entire
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case. Indeed, a “preliminary peek” at Defendants’ motion to dismiss and Malek’s opposition
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reveals that issues of qualified immunity and state law immunities are the subjects of reasonable
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dispute, such that it cannot be confidently said that Defendants will succeed in ending the action or
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that their arguments are entirely meritorious. For example, Defendants cannot prevail on their
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argument that they had probable cause to arrest Malek unless the Court agrees with their
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characterization that their mistake of law was reasonable. See Mot. to Dismiss 6, ECF 15; Opp’n
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to Mot. to Dismiss 7, ECF 18; Rudebusch v. Hughes, 315 F.3d 506, 514 (9th Cir. 2002)
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(explaining that the qualified immunity standard “allows ample room for reasonable error on the
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part of the official,” including “mistakes of fact and mistakes of law” (brackets omitted)).
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Accordingly, and for the reasons set forth herein, the Court DENIES Defendants’ motion
to stay the CMC and all discovery deadlines associated with the CMC pending the outcome of the
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motion to dismiss. Nevertheless, in light of defense counsel’s paternity leave, the Court
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CONTINUES the CMC until August 10, 2017, at 11:00 a.m.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: March 30, 2017
______________________________________
BETH LABSON FREEMAN
United States District Judge
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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