Holestine v. R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility et al
Filing
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ORDER Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Relief from Court's Order Adopting the Report and Recommendation. The Court grants Plaintiff's motion for relief from the Court's 8/28/2020 order adopting the Report & Recommendation. The Cour t vacates the 8/28/2020 order adopting the Report & Recommendation. Plaintiff may file objections to the Report & Recommendation no later than 12/28/2020. Any party may file a reply to the objections to the Report & Recommendation no later than 1/11/2021. Signed by Judge Anthony J. Battaglia on 11/13/2020. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(jrm)
Case 3:18-cv-02094-AJB-WVG Document 59 Filed 11/16/20 PageID.601 Page 1 of 3
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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ERNEST KELLY HOLESTINE,
Plaintiff,
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Case No.: 18-CV-2094-AJB(WVG)
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM
COURT’S ORDER ADOPTING THE
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
v.
R.J. DONOVAN CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY et al.,
Defendants.
(Doc. No. 58)
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Currently pending before this Court is Ernest Kelly Holestine’s (“Plaintiff’) motion
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for relief from the Court’s order adopting the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”). (Doc.
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No. 58.) Defendants have not objected to Plaintiff’s motion. For the reasons set forth
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below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for relief. (Doc. No. 58.)
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I.
BACKGROUND
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Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action on September
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6, 2018. (Doc. No. 1.) On October 3, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint.
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(Doc. No. 46.) United States Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo issued a R&R
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recommending that this Court: (1) grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss with regard to
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Plaintiff’s Equal Protection claim; (2) deny in part as moot Defendant’s motion to strike;
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(3) grant Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file Third Amended Complaint; and (4) grant
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18-CV-2094-AJB(WVG)
Case 3:18-cv-02094-AJB-WVG Document 59 Filed 11/16/20 PageID.602 Page 2 of 3
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Plaintiff’s motion for leave to increase page limit. (Doc. No. 55.) Finding that there were
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no objections to the R&R, and that the R&R did not contain clear error, the Court issued
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an Order adopting the R&R in its entirety. (Doc. No. 56.) On October 2, 2020, Plaintiff
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filed a motion for relief from the Court’s order adopting the R&R pursuant to Rule 60(b)
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of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Doc. No. 58.) Plaintiff alleges that he was never
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served with a copy of the Magistrate Judge’s R&R and that this extraordinary circumstance
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entitles him to Rule 60(b) relief. Defendants have not opposed Plaintiff’s motion.
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II.
DISCUSSION
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Pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a district court may
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grant a motion for relief from an order when there is any reason not previously considered
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that justifies granting relief from operation of the order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). A party
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merits relief under Rule 60(b) if he demonstrates “extraordinary circumstances” prevented
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him from taking timely action to prevent or correct an erroneous order. See Cmty. Dental
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Servs. v. Tani, 282 F.3d 1164, 1168 (9th Cir. 2002). Relief under Rule 60(b) normally will
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not be granted unless the moving party is able to show both injury and that circumstances
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beyond his control prevented timely action to protect his interests. Id.
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With his motion, Plaintiff files a declaration stating that he never received Judge
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Gallo’s R&R. However, Plaintiff explains that on September 15, 2020, Plaintiff received
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the Court’s order adopting the R&R. (Doc. No. 58 at 6.) That same date, on September 15,
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2020, Plaintiff sent a request for interview form to the prison’s mailroom, and requested a
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copy of Plaintiff’s incoming legal mail log. (Id.) The next day, Plaintiff received the mail
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log, which shows that between the time the R&R was issued, and when Plaintiff received
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the Court’s order adopting the R&R, Plaintiff only received two pieces of legal mail,
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neither of which was the R&R. (Id.) Plaintiff contends that he did not become aware of the
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R&R until he received the Court’s order adopting the R&R. He further maintains that he
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did not file objections to the R&R because he never received a copy of the R&R.
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Defendants have not filed an opposition to dispute Plaintiff’s motion.
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18-CV-2094-AJB(WVG)
Case 3:18-cv-02094-AJB-WVG Document 59 Filed 11/16/20 PageID.603 Page 3 of 3
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After reviewing the record, the Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated injury
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because he had no opportunity to file objections to the R&R, and that his inability to file
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objections resulted from circumstances beyond his control. The Court concludes that
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Plaintiff has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances sufficient to warrant relief from the
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order because he never received a copy of the R&R and was therefore unable to file
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objections.
III. CONCLUSION
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In light of the above, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for relief from the
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Court’s August 28, 2020 order adopting the R&R. (Doc. No. 58). The Court VACATES
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the August 28, 2020 order adopting the R&R. (Doc. No. 56) Plaintiff may file objections
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to the R&R no later than December 28, 2020. Any party may file a reply to the objections
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to the R&R no later than January 11, 2021.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 13, 2020
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18-CV-2094-AJB(WVG)
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