Randazza et al v. Cox et al

Filing 206

ORDER Denying 202 Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. Signed by Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey on 4/15/2014. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - EDS)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 8 9 10 MARC J. RANDAZZA, an individual, JENNIFER RANDAZZA, an individual, and NATALIA RANDAZZA, an individual, 11 Plaintiffs, 12 13 Case No.: 2:12-cv-2040-JAD-PAL Order Denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 202] v. CRYSTAL COX, an individual, et al. 14 Defendants. 15 16 This case arises out of the alleged targeting of Plaintiffs Marc Randazza, his wife Jennifer, 17 and their young daughter Natalia, by Defendant Crystal Cox, a self-proclaimed “investigative 18 blogger.” The Randazzas allege that Cox registered thirty-two internet domains incorporating their 19 names with the intent of then offering her services to rehabilitate Plaintiffs’ cyber-reputation caused 20 by Cox’s own nefarious actions. In the 17-month life span of this case, Defendant Cox has filed 21 more than 30 motions, and the deadline for filing dispositive motions ran January 10, 2014.1 22 Nevertheless, and undaunted by the Court’s myriad orders in this case admonishing Cox of 23 her obligation to comply with the rules and orders of this Court, on April 14, 2014, Cox filed a 24 motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint for “fraud on the court.”2 In it, Cox makes unsubstantiated 25 26 1 See Doc. 140 at 3. 27 2 Doc. 202. 28 Page 1 of 3 1 allegations that “Randazza”3 “has lied to the court” and “under oath on many things over the last 1.7 2 harassing years,” “to set [Cox] up for extortion. . . .”4 Cox asserts that “the docket clearly shows” 3 that “Plaintiff has lied, bullied, [and] committed fraud on the courts throughout this case” with “flat 4 out false testimony, false information and no basis of violations by Cox in any way.”5 Cox asks the 5 Court to “send a clear message to Randazza and attorneys like him, that suing former clients . . . is a 6 violation of their Free Speech and First Amendment rights” and “harassing them . . . is not lawful, 7 not constitutional and will not be tolerated by this Court.”6 The Court declines Cox’s invitation to 8 send this message. 9 The motion is fatally late. All parties—whether represented by counsel or not—must comply 10 with court orders.7 Cox has been reminded of this obligation ad nauseam. One such order is the 11 Court’s Scheduling Order; Rule 16(f) requires all parties and their attorneys to comply with 12 scheduling and other pretrial orders; judges may order appropriate sanctions for non-compliance.8 13 The operative scheduling order in this case clearly sets January 10, 2014, as the last date to 14 file dispositive motions.9 Motions to dismiss are dispositive motions. If Cox desired to file a motion 15 to dismiss in this case, she was required to do so by January 10, 2014. As the Ninth Circuit Court of 16 Appeals recognized in Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc.,10 district courts may deny late-filed 17 motions when the movant has not sought to reopen the filing period. Cox’s three-month-late motion 18 19 20 3 There are three Randazza plaintiffs, but Cox does not identify which Randazza she is referring to, though the Court presumes it’s Marc. 21 4 Doc. 202 at 1. 22 5 Id. at 2. 23 6 Id. 24 7 25 8 See Lucas Auto. Eng’g., Inc. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 275 F.3d 762, 769 (9th Cir. 2001). 26 9 Doc. 140. 27 10 28 See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f). 975 F.2d 604, 610 (9th Cir. 1992). Page 2 of 3 1 was not accompanied by a request to reopen the filing period, and the Court cannot conceive of any 2 reason that Cox could now provide (in light of her prolific motionwork to date and the constant re- 3 urging of these very same recycled arguments) that would constitute good cause for excusing her late 4 filing. The motion is denied, and Cox is cautioned that any future violations of the Court’s 5 scheduling order or any other order may be met with monetary sanctions. 6 7 8 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [#202] is DENIED. DATED April 15, 2014. 9 10 _________________________________ Jennifer A. Dorsey United States District Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page 3 of 3

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