Henrickson v. State of Nevada et al

Filing 113

ORDER Granting in part and Denying in part 103 Motion for Reconsideration. Signed by Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah on 5/13/2021. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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TRENT HENRICKSON

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Case No. 2:20-cv-01014-APG-EJY

Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.

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STATE OF NEVADA, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Objection to and Request for Reconsideration of ECF

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No. 100 Re ECF 90, 91, 92 (ECF No. 103). The Court has considered Plaintiff’s Request and

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Defendants’ Response (ECF No. 107).

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Reconsideration. Therefore, any objection to this or the Court’s underlying decisions may, if desired

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by either party, be filed in response to this Order.

The Court treats Plaintiff’s filing as a Motion for

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Reconsideration is an “extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in the interests of finality

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and conservation of judicial resources.” Kona Enters., Inc. v. Estate of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890

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(9th Cir. 2000). A motion for reconsideration “should not be granted, absent highly unusual

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circumstances, unless the district court is presented with newly discovered evidence, committed

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clear error, or if there is an intervening change in the controlling law.” McDowell v. Calderon, 197

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F.3d 1253, 1255 (9th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted). District courts have broad discretion in deciding

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whether to grant a motion for reconsideration. Simon v. City of Phoenix, Case No. CV-09-701-PHX-

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MHM, 2010 WL 1038606, at *1, (D. Ariz. March 19, 2010).

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Plaintiff’s Request is concerned with the fact that the Court did not specifically address an

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apparent five day period during which Plaintiff states Defendants failed to comply with the Court’s

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Preliminary Injunction Order (ECF No. 87). Plaintiff also points out that Defendants did not oppose

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ECF Nos. 90, 91, and 92. Respectively, these filings are titled Notice of Defendant’s Violation of

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Preliminary Injunction, Second Request for Equitable Sanctions, and Plaintiff’s Notice of Violations

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(New) of Preliminary Injunction and Motion for Equitable Sanctions. The Court did address the five
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day period during which Plaintiff argued Defendants were noncompliant with the injunction granted.

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However, Plaintiff is correct that Defendants did not respond to his Motions and that the Court failed

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to address this issue. Based on this failure by the Court, the Court grants, in part, Plaintiff’s Request

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for Reconsideration.

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Local Rule 7-2(d) allows the Court to treat a failure to file an opposition to certain motions,

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including those filed by Plaintiff, as consent to the granting of such Motions. However, whether to

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award sanctions for failing to comply with a pretrial order is within the sole discretion of the Court.

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Ayers v. Richmond, 895 F.2d 1267, 1269 (9th Cir. 1990). Thus, while the Court recognized that

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there was a brief period during which Defendants may not have complied with the injunction granted,

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the Court stated: “Since Plaintiff’s filings, which are now more than three weeks ago, Plaintiff …

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has not notified the Court of further violations of the injunctive relief granted. In the absence of any

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additional information, there is insufficient evidence of ongoing violations of the injunction for the

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Court to find the State is noncompliant. Therefore, sanctions are denied.” ECF No. 100.

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The Court’s finding on April 19, 2021 remains accurate today. That is, there remains no

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evidence of Defendants’ failure to comply with the Preliminary Injunction Order except for a brief

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period immediately following the entry of that Order. In fact, Plaintiff’s instant Request for

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Reconsideration does not state that, on any occasion since April 19th, Defendants have failed to

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comply with the injunction granted. Nonetheless, Plaintiff is correct that the Court could have

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entered an order awarding sanctions; however, the Court exercised its authority not to do so.

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Plaintiff also argues that the failure to award sanctions was manifestly unjust. The Court

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disagrees. A finding of manifest injustice requires meeting a high bar. “[T]he courts of the Ninth

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Circuit generally treat manifest injustice as very nearly synonymous with clear error, defining

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manifest injustice as any error in the trial court that is direct, obvious and observable, such as a

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defendant’s guilty plea that is involuntary.” Greenspan v. Fieldstone Fin. Mgmt. Grp., LLC, Case

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No. 3:17-cv-233-PK, 2018 WL 4945214, at *6 (D. Or. Aug. 22, 2018); see, e.g., Cummings v.

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Starbucks Corp., Case No. CV-12-06345-MWF (FFMx), 2014 WL 12597110, at *3 (C.D. Cal. May

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27, 2014) (same); El Torero Licores v. Raile, Case No. SACV-13-875-VAP, 2013 WL 6834609, at

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*8 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2013) (same); accord Leidos, Inc. v. Hellenic Republic, 881 F.3d 213, 217
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(D.C. Cir. 2018) (“Manifest injustice requires at least a clear and certain prejudice to the moving

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party that is fundamentally unfair in light of governing law.”); Shnewer v. United States, Case No.

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13-3769 (RBK), 2016 WL 4424949, at *6 (D.N.J. Aug. 18, 2016) (“reconsideration based on

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manifest injustice requires that the error be apparent to the point of being indisputable”). The Court

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exercised its discretionary authority in accordance with governing law when it considered the merits

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of Plaintiff’s prior Motions, filed in quick succession, alleging noncompliance with the Preliminary

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Injunction Order. And, while the brief noncompliant period did not go unnoticed, the Court found

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sanctions were not warranted. Although Plaintiff is clearly disappointed with the outcome of his

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Motions, this is not a basis for finding clear error, manifest injustice or changing the Court’s

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Order. Young v. Thomas, Case No. 14-cv-2550-JMC, 2015 WL 3397193, at *2 (D.S.C. May 26,

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2015) (internal quotations omitted).

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Objection to and Request for

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Reconsideration of ECF 100 Re ECF 90, 91, 92 (ECF No. 103) is GRANTED in part and DENIED

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in part.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that reconsideration is granted to the extent stated above.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that reconsideration is denied in all other respect.

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Dated this 13th day of May, 2021.

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ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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