United States v. Conley

Filing 10

ORDER granting 5 Motion to Compel but declining to award attorneys fees and costs. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman on 2/29/2012. (dkc)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Case No. 01-06407-CIV-GRAHAM/GOODMAN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.
KATHRYN E. CONLEY,
Defendant.
_______________________________________/
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO COMPEL
THIS CAUSE is before the Undersigned on the government’s Motion to Compel
Response to Plaintiff’s First Request for Production in Aid of Execution. [ECF No. 5].
On December 1, 2011, the government served Defendant with requests for production
and interrogatories, but Defendant did not respond. The government filed its motion to
compel on January 30, 2012, and Plaintiff (again) did not respond. On February 21,
2012, the Undersigned set a hearing on the motion to compel for February 29, 2012.
[ECF No. 8].

The Court mailed a copy of the order to Defendant’s address, but

Defendant did not subsequently file a response to the government’s motion or appear at
the hearing (which was held as scheduled).
After reviewing the motion and taking argument from the government during the
hearing, the Undersigned concludes that there is good cause to grant the motion to
compel. Consequently, it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUGED that the motion is
GRANTED and Defendant shall serve responses to the discovery requests within 20
days of today’s date.

1

However, the Undersigned declines to award attorneys fees and costs at this
juncture.

Defendant is proceeding pro se and, at the hearing, the government

acknowledged that it cannot confirm the Defendant ever received the motion to compel.
The government explained that it did not serve the motion, for example, by certified mail
or courier, and therefore has no written evidence of receipt. Instead, the government
merely assumes the Defendant received the discovery and the motion to compel because
the Postal Service never returned the mail sent to an address for Defendant that the
government’s counsel obtained from a Westlaw database.
To that end, it is further ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the government shall
serve a copy of this order, along with an additional copy of its requests for production
and interrogatories, on Plaintiff by no later than Monday, March 5, 2012.

The

Undersigned does not require any particular method of service. Nonetheless, the Court
expects that the government will use a method of service that demonstrates whether
Defendant herself actually receives the order and discovery requests.
DONE AND ORDERED, in Chambers, in Miami, Florida, this 29th day of
February, 2012.

Copies furnished to:
The Honorable Donald Graham;
All counsel of record;
Kathryn E. Conley, pro se
210 16th Street
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304-1045.
2