Warren v. Nev. Dept. of Corr. et al

Filing 102

ORDER granting ECF No. 101 Motion to Extend Time : Deadline for outstanding discovery specified herein is Monday, 9/14/2020. Signed by Magistrate Judge William G. Cobb on 8/14/2020. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRM)

Case 3:17-cv-00228-MMD-WGC Document 102 Filed 08/14/20 Page 1 of 4

1
2
3
4
5

AARON D. FORD
Attorney General
PETER E. DUNKLEY, Bar No. 11110
Deputy Attorney General
State of Nevada
Public Safety Division
100 N. Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701-4717
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

6
7

Attorneys for Defendants
Quentin Byrne, Sheryl Foster, Joshua Kelly,
Stephen Powers, Ruben Vidaurri

8
9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10

DISTRICT OF NEVADA

11

KEITH A. WARREN,

12

Case No. 3:17-cv-00228-MMD-WGC

Plaintiff,

13

vs.

14

ORDER GRANTING
MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME
TO RESPOND TO DISCOVERY
REQUESTS

NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, et al.,

15
Defendants.
16
17

Defendants, Quentin Byrne, Sheryl Foster, Joshua Kelly, Stephen Powers, Ruben Vidaurri, by

18

and through counsel, Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General, and Peter E. Dunkley, hereby submit

19

this Motion for Extension of Time to Serve Discovery Responses to Plaintiff’s Discovery Requests,

20

Dated June 30, 2020, and received by the Office of the Attorney General on July 6, 2020. This Motion

21

is based on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(1)(A), the following Memorandum of Points and

22

Authorities, and all papers and pleadings on file in this action.
MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES

23
24

I.

INTRODUCTION

25

Defendants request additional time to respond to outstanding Requests for Admissions and

26

Requests for Production of documents, without waiving objections, because of the administrative

27

obstacles at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), related to the response to COVID -19.

28

///

1

Case 3:17-cv-00228-MMD-WGC Document 102 Filed 08/14/20 Page 2 of 4

1

State-wide, and OAG wide policies and technological limitations have affected the effectiveness

2

of communications and the ability to efficiently compile documents and evidence, from outside the office.

3

Defendants respectfully request an extension of 32 days from today, from the current deadlines of

4

August 13, 2020, (for discovery dated July 14, 2020, but not received until July 21), August 23, 2020 (for

5

discovery dated July 22, but not received until July 27, 2020), and August 28, 2020 (for discovery dated

6

July 24, but not received until July 27, 2020, or July 28, 2020). In summary, Defendants request until

7

September 14, 2020 for the following discovery listed by date of discovery signed by Plaintiff:

8

1. July 14, 2020:
a. RFAs:
i. Foster
ii. Byrne
iii. Powers
iv. Kelly
v. Vidaurri (second)
b. Request for Documents:
i. Foster & Byrne
2. July 22, 2020:
a. RFA:
i. Foster
ii. Byrne
iii. Vidaurri (third)
b. Request for Documents
i. Viaurri, Byrne, Foster
3. July 24, 2020:
a. Interrogatories:
i. Vidaurri
ii. Byrne
iii. Foster
iv. Powers
v. Kelly

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

II.

ARGUMENT

25

Defendants respectfully requests a 32-day extension of time out from the current deadlines to

26

serve responses to Plaintiff’s Request for Admissions and Requests for Production of Documents and

27

interrogatories as set forth above. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(1) governs extensions of time

28

and provides as follows:

2

Case 3:17-cv-00228-MMD-WGC Document 102 Filed 08/14/20 Page 3 of 4
When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may,
for good cause, extend the time: (A) with or without motion or notice if
the court acts, or if a request is made, before the original time or its
extension expires; or (B) on motion made after the time has expired if the
party failed to act because of excusable neglect.

1
2
3
4

“The district court is given broad discretion in supervising the pretrial phase of litigation….” Zivkovic v. S.

5

California Edison Co., 302 F.3d 1080, 1087 (9th Cir. 2002) (citation omitted).

6

Defendants assert that the requisite good cause is present to warrant the requested extension of

7

time. This request has been necessitated by ongoing quarantine measures imposed in response to the

8

COVID-19 virus pandemic. Defendants make the instant request in light of the current issues related to

9

COVID-19 including Nevada Governor Sisolak’s March 31, 2020 Declaration of Emergency (Directive

10

010) – ‘Stay at Home Order’ and the Governor’s April 1, 2020 “Stay at Home” directive. In response, the

11

Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has directed all AOG employees to comply with the Governor’s

12

directives and orders. The OAG is limiting (and in some instances, restricting completely) in-office work,

13

and instructing employees to stay at home and to work from home to the extent possible. The OAG, and

14

the State Nevada information technology staff have been working to fully implement alternate, home-

15

based working arrangements. As a result, the already limited staff at the OAG is rendered less efficient

16

due to constraints imposed by limited Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and lack of remote document

17

access, along with a recent quarantine of the undersigned. In light of Governor’s directives, the OAG’s

18

policies, the information technologies limitations, and due to the functional difficulties the instant

19

circumstances place on accessing and obtaining the necessary supporting documents, including

20

correspondence between the OAG and Defendants, Defendants respectfully request that the Court extend

21

the time to respond to the discovery until September 14, 2020.

22

Defendants’ request is timely and will not hinder or prejudice Plaintiff’s case, but will allow for

23

the OAG to have sufficient time to obtain documents and communicate with defendants in order to

24

respond.

25

For these reasons, Defendant respectfully requests a thirty-two (32) day extension of time from

26

the today to serve responses to the request for admissions, interrogatories, and requests for production

27

of documents in this case, with a new deadline up to and including Monday, September 14, 2020.

28

///

3

Case 3:17-cv-00228-MMD-WGC Document 102 Filed 08/14/20 Page 4 of 4

1

DEADLINE

2

The Deadline for outstanding discovery as set forth above: Monday September 14, 2020.

3

DATED this 13th day of August 2020.
AARON D. FORD
Attorney General

4
5

By:

6
7

/s/ Peter E. Dunkley
PETER E. DUNKLEY, Bar No. 11110
Deputy Attorney General
Attorneys for Defendants

8
9
10

IT IS SO ORDERED:

11

__________________________________________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

12

DATED:__________________
August 14, 2020

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

4