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: (775) 684-1259
E-mail: pdunkley@ag.nv.gov
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
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?