George's Place, LLC et al v. Smith et al

Filing 36

ORDER denying without prejudice 29 Motion for summary judgment. Signed by Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. on 4/24/2012. (VMF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
GEORGE’S PLACE, LLC., and
MARGARET K. HOCTER,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 3:11-cv-1096-J-37JBT

GORDON SMITH, in his official
capacity as Sheriff of Bradford
County, Florida and SEVERAL
UNKNOWN BRADFORD COUNTY
DEPUTY SHERIFFS, individually.
Defendants.
________________________________/
ORDER
This cause is before the Court on the following:
1)

Sheriff Smith’s Motion for Final Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 29) (“Motion
for Summary Judgment”), filed on March 19, 2012; and

2)

Plaintiffs’ Response in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary
Judgment (Doc. No. 35) (“Response”), filed on April 19, 2012.
BACKGROUND

On February 2, 2012, this Court entered an Order denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Preliminary Injunction. (Doc. No. 25.) On March 19, 2012, before the Court entered a
Case Management and Scheduling Order (“CMSO”), Sheriff Smith filed his Motion for
Summary Judgment. (Doc. No. 29.) A week later, on March 26, 2012, the Court entered
the CMSO, which designated a discovery deadline of September 7, 2012, and a dispositive
motions deadline of October 5, 2012. (Doc. No. 31.) Recognizing that Plaintiffs had not
yet responded to the Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court entered a Milburn Notice,

advising Plaintiffs that it would take the Motion under advisement on April 19, 2012. (Doc.
No. 34.)
On April 19, 2012, Plaintiffs filed their Response. (Doc. No. 35.) In it, they
contended that Sheriff Smith’s Motion is “blatantly premature” because there has been no
opportunity for reasonable discovery. (Doc. No. 35, p. 3.) They asked the Court to deny
the Motion at this time, and to give them the opportunity to adequately conduct discovery
and review the relevant documents. (See id. at p. 5.)
In light of the fact that the discovery deadline is approximately five months from the
date of this Order, the Court finds Plaintiffs’ arguments well-taken.
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Sheriff Smith’s Motion
for Final Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 29), filed on March 19, 2012, is DENIED without
prejudice. Sheriff Smith may re-file his Motion (with any changes or additions as he sees
fit) at the close of discovery or at such time as the parties have had an opportunity to fully
develop the record.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 24, 2012.

Copies:
2

Counsel of Record

3