Hampton v. State of Nevada et al

Filing 103

ORDER denying 93 Motion to Compel; ORDER granting 100 Motion to Seal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts on 1/11/2022. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - HAM)

Case 2:20-cv-00578-APG-DJA Document 103 Filed 01/11/22 Page 1 of 7

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***
Jermaine Hampton,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. 2:20-cv-00578-APG-DJA

v.

Order

State of Nevada, et al.,
Defendants.

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This is a prisoner civil rights action arising out of Defendants Detective T. Edwards and

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Defendant Officer Lunt (the “LVMPD Defendants”) arrest of Plaintiff Jermaine Hampton on June

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8, 2019. Plaintiff sues the LVMPD Defendants, along with the State of Nevada, City of Las

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Vegas, District Attorney Sarah Overly, and District Attorney Stephanie Getter for damages and

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declaratory relief, claiming violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Plaintiff

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moves to compel Defendants’ responses to certain of his discovery requests. (ECF No. 93).

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Defendant moves to file exhibits to their motion for summary judgment under seal. (ECF No.

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100).
Because the Court finds that Plaintiff’s motion to compel is untimely, it denies his motion.

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Because the Court finds that Plaintiff’s interest in keeping his personally identifying information

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confidential outweighs the public’s interest in viewing them, it grants Defendants’ motion to seal.

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The Court finds these matters properly resolved without a hearing. LR 78-1.

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I.

Background.

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A.

Plaintiff’s motion to compel.

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The LVMPD Defendants have extended the discovery deadline four times. (ECF Nos. 35,

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59, 68, 85, 91). They have extended the deadline for dispositive motions and the pretrial order

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five times. (See id.; ECF No. 94). Plaintiff opposed the LVMPD Defendants second and fourth

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motions to extend, arguing in part that the LVMPD Defendants have not been diligent. (ECF

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Nos. 56, 62). The Court ultimately granted the extension requests. (ECF Nos. 35, 59, 68, 85, 91,

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and 94). Under those extensions, the discovery deadline passed on September 27, 2021. (ECF

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No. 91). The dispositive motion deadline passed on December 10, 2021. (ECF No. 94).
Plaintiff served his third request for production on Defendants on September 9, 2020.

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(ECF No. 93 at 2). In it, Plaintiff asked that the LVMPD Defendants provide documents showing

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complaints about and disciplinary action taken against the LVMPD Defendants. (Id. at 5-8). The

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LVMPD Defendants objected to Plaintiff’s requests as vague, overbroad, confidential, and

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irrelevant and asserted several privileges over them. (Id.).
Plaintiff served his fifth request for production on the LVMPD Defendants on February

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10, 2021. (Id. at 2). In it, he requested complaints, discipline reports, and incident reports for the

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LVMPD Defendants. (Id. at 11-21). The LVMPD Defendants again objected to Plaintiff’s

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requests as vague, overbroad, irrelevant, confidential, and protected under several privileges.

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(Id.).

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Plaintiff served his sixth request for production on the LVMPD Defendants on March 26,

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2021. (Id. at 2). In it, he requests video of the interior of Lunt’s patrol car, complaints against the

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LVMPD Defendants, and documents showing the exact date and time when “Officer conducted a

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Schedule II Background Check.” (Id. at 23-29). The LVMPD Defendants explained that there is

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no video showing the interior of Lunt’s car. (Id.). They objected to the request for documents

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regarding a background check in part as unintelligible. (Id.). They objected to the remainder of

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the requests as vague, overbroad, irrelevant, confidential, and subject to certain privileges. (Id.).

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Plaintiff served his seventh request for production on the LVMPD Defendants on May 4,

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2021. (Id. at 2). He again requested documents regarding complaints and disciplinary action

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against the LVMPD Defendants and video footage from the inside of Lunt’s patrol car. (Id. at 33-

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41). The LVMPD Defendants objected on the same grounds as before, adding that Plaintiff’s

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requests were cumulative because of his multiple, similar requests. (Id.).

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Plaintiff met and conferred with counsel for the LVMPD Defendants in June of 2021. (Id.

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at 2). Plaintiff asserts that the LMVPD Defendants’ counsel explained that “we don’t have access
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to those documents and wouldn’t be able to produce them.” (Id.). Plaintiff filed his motion to

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compel about four months later, on October 19, 2021. (Id.).
In his motion, Plaintiff argues that, because the LVMPD Defendants have noticed

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subpoenas and conducted a deposition of Plaintiff, they have diligently pursued discovery in

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every way except responding to Plaintiff’s requests for production. (Id. at 3). Plaintiff argues

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that he has only received objections as responses and thus, asks that the Court compel the

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LVMPD Defendants to respond. (Id. at 3-4). In response, the LVMPD Defendants argue that the

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Court should deny Plaintiff’s motion because it is untimely, that the video files Plaintiff seeks do

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not exist, and because the LVMPD Defendants properly objected to Plaintiff’s discovery. 1 (ECF

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No. 95 at 1-2). The LVMPD Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s motion is untimely under the

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multi-factor analysis which courts in this district apply to motions to compel. (Id. at 4-8). The

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LVMPD Defendants explain that, rather than meet and confer to discuss the objections with

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which he did not agree, Plaintiff continued to submit requests for production asking for the same

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information again and again, only many months later moving to compel. (Id. at 6). This delay,

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the LVMPD Defendants argue, after a long failure to meet and confer, is unexplained in

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Plaintiff’s motion. (Id. at 8). Plaintiff did not file a reply.

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B.

Defendants’ motion to seal.

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Defendants filed their motion to seal exhibits to their motions for summary judgment on

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December 14, 2021. (ECF No. 100). Defendants explain that the exhibits contain Plaintiff’s

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personal identifying information. (Id. at 2). Defendants assert that the exhibits currently attached

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to the motions for summary judgment contain minor redactions to shield Plaintiff’s information.

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(Id.). They add that the video and audio files they have filed manually with the Court should also

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be sealed for the same reason. (Id.). Plaintiff, although served with the motion, did not file a

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response.

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Because the Court bases its analysis on timeliness, it does not outline the LVMPD Defendants’
arguments regarding the video footage and their objections to Plaintiff’s requests further.
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II.

Discussion.

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A.

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The Court has broad discretionary power to control discovery. Little v. City of Seattle,

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863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 1988). “With respect to a motion to compel discovery, there is no

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specific deadline enunciated in the governing rules and a determination as to the timeliness of

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such a motion is left to the exercise of judicial discretion.” Herndon v. City of Henderson, 507 F.

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Supp. 3d 1243, 1247 (D. Nev. 2020). That determination is based on whether the movant unduly

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delayed. Id. “A finding of untimeliness, standing alone, dooms a motion to compel regardless of

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its substantive merits.” Id.

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The Court denies Plaintiff’s motion to compel.

A motion to compel filed before the discovery cutoff is generally considered timely. Id.

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(citing V5 Technologies v. Switch, Ltd., 332 F.R.D. 356, 364-65 (concluding that a motion to

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compel filed five months before the discovery cutoff was timely based on the circumstances of

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that case even though it was filed eleven months after the discovery dispute arose)). “A motion to

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compel filed after the dispositive motion deadline is presumptively untimely because continuing

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to entertain discovery matters at that juncture interferes with the advancement of the case to the

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merits phase.” Id. (citing Gray v. Cox, No. 2:14-cv-01094-JAD-PAL, 2016 WL 4367236, at *3

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(D. Nev. Aug. 12, 2016) (concluding that a pro se prisoner’s motion to compel filed the day after

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the dispositive motion deadline was untimely when filed seven weeks after the discovery dispute

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reached an impasse)). Courts in this district have applied a non-exhaustive list of factors to

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determine the timeliness of a motion to compel: (1) the length of time since expiration of the

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discovery deadline; (2) the length of time the moving party has known about the discovery;

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(3) whether the discovery deadline has been extended; (4) the explanation for the tardiness or

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delay; (5) whether dispositive motions have been scheduled or filed; (6) the age of the case;

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(7) any prejudice to the party from whom discovery is sought; and (8) disruption of the Court’s

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schedule. Id. at 1248. The timeliness of a motion to compel “ is determined based on the entire

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complex of circumstances that gave rise to the motion…” Id. (internal citations and quotations

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omitted).

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1.

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The length of time since the discovery deadline expired.

Discovery ended in this case on September 27, 2021. (ECF No. 91). Plaintiff waited

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nearly a month after discovery closed to file his motion to compel. (ECF No. 93). This factor

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weighs against timeliness.
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The length of time Plaintiff has known about the discovery.

Plaintiff first learned of the LVMPD Defendants’ objections to his requests for

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information regarding complaints and disciplinary action in October of 2020. (ECF No. 93 at 8).

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He learned of the LVMPD Defendants’ objections to his requests for video evidence in March of

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2021. (Id. at 30). Nonetheless, Plaintiff continued to reassert his requests—changing the

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wording slightly but requesting essentially the same things—for months until he met and

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conferred with counsel for the LVMPD Defendants in June of 2021. Plaintiff then waited another

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four months from the meet and confer to file his motion to compel. This factor weighs against

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timeliness.

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3.

Whether the discovery deadline has been extended.

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The discovery deadline has been extended multiple times. While the LVMPD Defendants

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drove the extensions, on the occasions that Plaintiff objected to the motions, he cited the LVMPD

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Defendants’ lack of diligence as a reason to deny them. However, now that Plaintiff seeks to

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compel discovery after discovery has closed, he has not filed a reply to address his own lack of

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diligence. This factor weighs against timeliness.

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4.

Plaintiff’s explanation for the delay.

Although the LVMPD Defendants’ primary reason for objecting to Plaintiff’s motion to

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compel is its timeliness, Plaintiff did not file a reply to address these concerns. Nor did he

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include an explanation for the untimeliness in his original motion. With no explanation for the

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delay, this factor weighs against timeliness.

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5.

Whether dispositive motions have been scheduled or filed.

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Dispositive motions have been filed. (ECF Nos. 96, 97). The deadline for filing these

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motions passed on December 10, 2021. (ECF No. 91). This factor weighs against timeliness.

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6.

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The age of the case.

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This case is relatively old, having been filed on March 23, 2020. (ECF No. 1). Nearly

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two years have passed since Plaintiff initiated the case. While the LVMPD Defendants sought

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the extensions contributing in part to this delay, the age of the case nonetheless weighs against

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timeliness.
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Prejudice to the LVMPD Defendants.

Not only have the LVMPD Defendants already filed their motion for summary judgment,

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but they have also repeatedly informed Plaintiff that certain of the evidence he seeks does not

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exist. The LVMPD Defendants cannot produce video footage they do not have. And producing

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the records Plaintiff seeks related to complaints and disciplinary records for Edwards and Lunt

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would almost certainly impact their pending summary judgment motions and result in re-opening

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discovery. The LVMPD Defendants thus face a high level of prejudice, and this factor weighs

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against timeliness.
8.

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Disruption of the Court’s schedule.

Allowing Plaintiff’s motion to compel to proceed would also disrupt the Court’s schedule.

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Discovery deadlines have all passed and the motions for summary judgment are currently

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pending. Because a motion for summary judgment is premised on the argument that there are no

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issues of material fact remaining, reopening discovery for Plaintiff to request information about

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complaints and disciplinary action against the LVMPD Defendants would disrupt the Court’s

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decision on these motions. This factor weighs against timeliness. Because each of the factors the

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Court considers weighs against timeliness, the Court denies Plaintiff’s motion to compel as

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untimely.

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B.

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A party seeking to file a confidential document under seal must file a motion to seal and

The Court grants the LVMPD Defendants’ motion to seal.

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must comply with the Ninth Circuit’s directives in Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,

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447 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006) and Center for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 809 F.3d

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1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2016). A party seeking to seal judicial records bears the burden of meeting

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the “compelling reasons” standard, as articulated in Kamakana. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at
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1183. Under that standard, “a court may seal records only when it finds ‘a compelling reason and

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articulate[s] the factual basis for its ruling, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture.’” Ctr. for

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Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1097. (quoting Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179). “The court must then

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‘conscientiously balance[ ] the competing interests of the public and the party who seeks to keep

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certain judicial records secret.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1097. However, the failure of

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an opposing party to file points and authorities in response to any motion constitutes a consent to

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the granting of the motion. LR 7-2(d).

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The Court grants the LVMPD Defendants’ motion to seal because Plaintiff has not
responded to the motion and the LVMPD Defendants seek to seal Plaintiff’s personally

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identifying information. Defendants have otherwise filed the documents with redactions on the

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docket. Additionally, while the public has little interest in having Plaintiff’s personally

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identifying information, Plaintiff has a strong interest in maintaining its confidentiality. The

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Court thus grants the motion.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to compel (ECF No. 93) is
denied.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the LVMPD Defendants’ motion to seal (ECF No.
100) is granted.
DATED: January 11, 2022
DANIEL J. ALBREGTS
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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