Maestas v. State of Nevada ex rel et al

Filing 22

ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE # 18 Motion to Compel pending further consideration of the issues by the court. Ds' counsel shall file a Notice by 2/15/2015 as specified herein; P's Response due 10 days thereafter. Signed by Magistrate Judge William G. Cobb on 2/5/2015. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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NICHOLAS V. MAESTAS,

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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STATE OF NEVADA, et al.,
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Defendants.
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_______________________________________)

3:13-cv-00301-RCJ-WGC
ORDER
re Doc. # 18

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Before the court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel (Doc. # 181). Defendants have opposed (Doc.

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# 20) and Plaintiff has replied (Doc. # 21). The discovery dispute presented by Plaintiff’s motion

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revolves around the production of any security video footage allegedly depicting him and another inmate

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in an altercation while both were incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center (LCC).

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Defendants assert Plaintiff has failed to satisfy the “Meet & Confer” preconditions to filing a

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discovery motion under Local Rule 26-7(a). While Plaintiff may not have specifically included the

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“certification” of LR 26-7(a), the court finds that Plaintiff did undertake an attempt to resolve the

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discovery dispute. Procedurally, therefore, this motion is properly before the court, at least from the

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standpoint that Plaintiff made a colorable attempt to resolve his discovery complaint before bringing it

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to the court.

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Substantively, however, the court has difficulty with Plaintiff’s motion. Plaintiff states the

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Defendants have refused to produce the security video footage Plaintiff sought in his Request for

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Production (Doc. # 18 at 1, 3). Defendants in their Opposition, however, have stated that the “available

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Refers to court's docket number.

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video surveillance footage” from LCC has been copied over to a CD and delivered to the Warden of the

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Ely State Prison to make available to Plaintiff for viewing. (Doc. # 20 at 2.)

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Plaintiff in his reply memorandum contends the Defendants have produced what he calls and

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“edited version of events.” But Plaintiff also states that he “has submitted 5 requests to the Warden’s

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office and has not been allowed to reviewed the edited surveillance footage that was available.” (Doc.

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# 21 at 2). The court cannot understand how Plaintiff can object to the content of the video when he

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has not yet viewed the video.

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Nevertheless, with regard to Plaintiff's objections as to the content of the video, Defendants’

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memorandum states that “the undersigned counsel [Deputy Attorney General Benjamin Johnson] has

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conferred with Ely State Prison and has confirmed that there is no other video surveillance footage from

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this incident and that everything that the Defendants have has been produced.” (Doc. # 20 at 2; emphasis

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added). The problem with this representation is that the incident occurred at Lovelock Correctional

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Center, not at the Ely State Prison (ESP).

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Although the court is denying Plaintiff’s motion to compel (without prejudice), Defendants’

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counsel shall, within ten (10) days of the date of this order, file a Notice confirming that the “available”

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and “relevant” video footage was obtained from LCC where the incident allegedly occurred, not ESP.

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Defendants' Notice shall explain further what was meant by the reference to “available” and “relevant

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video footage.” In light of Plaintiff’s assertions that he has not been afforded an opportunity to view the

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video footage (Doc. # 21 at 2), Defendants' Notice shall also verify that Plaintiff has been allowed to

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view the relevant video footage. Plaintiff shall have ten (10) days thereafter to respond to Defendants'

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Notice.

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Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. # 18) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE pending further

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consideration of the issues by the court.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: February 5, 2015.

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_____________________________________
WILLIAM G. COBB
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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