United States of America v. 53.14 Acres of Land et al

Filing 93

ORDER denying 87 Motion to Consolidate Cases. Signed by Judge Anthony J. Battaglia on 08/23/11. (cge)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

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Plaintiff,
v.

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53.14 ACRES OF LAND, more or less
situated in San Diego County, State of
California; et al.,

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Defendants.
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Case No.: 08cv0506 AJB (NLS)
ORDER DENYING MOTION
TO CONSOLIDATE
[Doc. No. 87]

The Defendant, the State of California, filed a motion to consolidate, Doc. No. 87, seeking to

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consolidate the instant action with United State of America v. 127.60 Acres of Land, et al., (hereinafter

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“127.60 Acre Case”), 06cv1670 AJB (NLS). Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a)(2), a court

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has broad discretion to consolidate cases pending in the same district. See Investors Research Co. v. U.S.

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Dist. Ct., 877 F.2d 777, 777 (9th Cir.1989). In considering a motion to consolidate actions, a court,

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among other things, “weighs the saving of time and effort consolidation would produce against any

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inconvenience, delay, or expense that it would cause.”1

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Huene v. United States, 743 F.2d 703, 704 (9th Cir.1984) (stating the court should consider:
whether the specific risks of prejudice and possible confusion are overcome by the risk of inconsistent
adjudications of common factual and legal issues, the burden on parties, witnesses, and available
judicial resources posed by multiple lawsuits, the length of time required to conclude multiple suits as
against a single one, and the relative expense of all concerned of the single-trial, multiple-trial
alternatives.).
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08cv0506

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The instant motion to consolidate was also filed in the 127.6 Acre Case and was denied by this

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Court on June 29, 2011 after careful consideration of the appropriate factors.2 As such, and for the

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reasons previously set forth by the Court on the record during the June 29, 2011 hearing in the 127.50

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Acres Case, Defendant’s motion to consolidate is hereby DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: August 23, 2011

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Hon. Anthony J. Battaglia
U.S. District Judge

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See 127.60 Acre Case, 06cv1670 AJB (NLS), Hearing Transcript, Doc. No. 233, p. 162, lines
14-22, (denying the motion to consolidate based upon the complicated nature, uniqueness of the
properties and the likelihood that consolidation would confuse the jury as to what evidence and
testimony applied to each property.).
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K:\COMMON\BATTAGLI\DJ CASES\Even Numbers - Erin's Cases\53.14 ACRES\08cv506.order.deny.mot.consolidate.wpd

08cv0506