Ross et al v. Balderas et al

Filing 98

ORDER on various pending motions by Circuit Judge Paul Kelly, Jr. terminating 30 Defendants' (Bustos & Gagne) Motion to Dismiss; terminating 47 Defendants' (Sena, Bevacqua-Young, Casados, & Portillo) Motion to Dismiss; terminating [ 54] Defendant LaMar's Motion to Dismiss; terminating 59 Defendant Audrey Montoya's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim; terminating 65 Defendant Allstate Ins. Co.'s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim; termi nating 72 Defendant Pickard's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim; terminating 78 Defendant Reynolds' Motion to Dismiss; denying 82 Order on Motion to Dismiss Party Defendant Richards; granting 94 City Defendants' (Montano, Arroyo, & Montijo) Motion for Protective Order Staying Discovery; granting 96 Defendants' (Garcia, Pacheco, Gutierrez, & Anna Montoya) Unopposed Motion to Stay Discovery Based Upon Qualified Immunity. (rt)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

ANDREW ROSS and SUSAN GERARD,
Plaintiffs,
No.

vs.

1:16-cv-01121 PJK/SMV

HECTOR BALDERAS, Jr., ROBERT
GARCIA, SARAH MICHAEL
SINGLETON, FRANCIS J. MATHEW,
RAYMOND Z. ORTIZ, DAVID K.
THOMPSON, JENNIFER ATTREP, T.
GLENN ELLINGTON, SYLVIA
LAMAR, DONITA OLYMPIA SENA,
DONNA BEVACQUA-YOUNG, PAT
CASADOS, FRANK SEDILLO,
WILLIAM PACHECO, ANTONIO
GUTIERREZ, ANNA MONTOYA,
JUDAH BEN MONTANO, A. ARROYO,
E. MONTIJO, MICHELLE PORTILLO,
STEPHEN T. PACHECO, JANE
GAGNE, JOYCE BUSTOS, LYNN
PICKARD, PAMELA REYNOLDS,
ROBIN MARTINEZ, ROBERT
RICHARDS, BRENDA WALL,
AUDREY MONTOYA, and ALLSTATE
INSURANCE, INC.,
Defendants.

ORDER ON VARIOUS PENDING MOTIONS

THIS MATTER comes on for consideration of various pending motions.
A.

The following motions to dismiss are terminated because Plaintiffs voluntarily

dismissed these parties pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i), which allows for
voluntary dismissal before an opposing party serves an answer or summary judgment
motion. Janssen v. Harris, 321 F.3d 998, 1000 (10th Cir. 2003). A motion to dismiss
does not preclude Plaintiffs’ unilateral dismissal of a party. See De Leon v. Marcos, 659
F.3d 1276, 1283 (10th Cir. 2011).
1. Defendants’ [Joyce Bustos and Jane Gagne] Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First
Amended Complaint filed November 9, 2016. Doc. 30. See Doc. 76.
2. Defendants the Honorable Donita Sena, the Honorable Donna
Bevacqua-Young, the Honorable Pat Casados and Michelle Portillo’s Motion to Dismiss
Amended Complaint filed November 15, 2016. Doc. 47. See Doc. 81.
3. Defendant the Honorable Sylvia LaMar’s Motion to Dismiss Amended
Complaint filed November 21, 2016. Doc. 54. See Doc. 76.
4. Defendant Audrey Montoya’s Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint filed
November 22, 2016. Doc. 59. See Doc. 81.
5. Defendant Allstate Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First
Amended Complaint filed November 28, 2016. Doc. 65. See Doc. 81.
6. Defendant Lynn Pickard’s Motion to Dismiss filed Novmeber 30, 2016. Doc.
72. See Doc. 81.
B.

The following motion to dimiss is terminated because this Defendant, who had

answered and counterclaimed, see Doc. 44, was voluntarily dismissed pursuant to a
stipulation signed by all remaining parties who appeared. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii).
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In that stipulation, the Defendant also agreed to dismiss her counterclaims, each party to
bear its fees and costs.
7. Defendant Pamela Reynolds’ Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint
filed December 2, 2016. Doc. 78. See Doc. 91.
C.

Various Remaining Motions
8. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Voluntary Dismissal Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(2) filed

December 5, 2016 (Doc. 82), seeking to dismiss Defendant Robert Richards without
prejudice is denied. Mr. Richards has answered and counterclaimed (Doc. 45), was
required to defend (Doc. 46) a motion for preliminary injunctive relief, and now seeks
sanctions (Docs. 80, 86). Mr. Richards understandably seeks a dismissal with prejudice
to protect against similar future claims and the court concludes that he would suffer legal
prejudice if not allowed to pursue that objective. See Baca v. Berry, 806 F.3d 1262,
1269–70 (10th Cir. 2015).
9. Defendants’ (Robert Garcia, William Pacheco, Antonio Gutierrez, and Anna
Montoya) Unopposed Motion to Stay Discovery Based Upon Qualified Immunity filed
December 21, 2016 (Doc. 96) is granted.
10. Given the above, the court will grant the City Defendants’ (Judah Ben
Montano, A. Arroyo, and E. Montijo) Motion for Protective Order Staying Discovery
Pending the Court’s Disposition of the City Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment
filed December 19, 2016. Doc. 94. Although the motion is opposed, Doc. 94 at 1 n.1, the
Court will grant the motion without a response or reply given its action on the unopposed
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motion above, and because the Supreme Court’s clarity that an important part of the
protection offered by the defense of qualified immunity is relief from the burdens of any
discovery pending a prompt determination of the issue. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.
662, 685–86 (2009).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Various motions to dismiss are terminated as moot given voluntary dismissal of
various Defendants or a dismissal by stipulation agreed to by all remaining parties who
have appeared. Doc. 30, 47, 54, 59, 65, 72, 78.
2. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Voluntary Dismissal Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(2) filed
December 5, 2016 (Doc. 82), seeking to dismiss Defendant Robert Richards without
prejudice is denied.
3. Defendants’ (Robert Garcia, William Pacheco, Antonio Gutierrez, and Anna
Montoya) Unopposed Motion to Stay Discovery Based Upon Qualified Immunity filed
December 21, 2016 (Doc. 96) is granted.
4. The City Defendants’ (Judah Ben Montano, A. Arroyo, and E. Montijo)
Motion for Protective Order Staying Discovery Pending the Court’s Disposition of the
City Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment filed December 19, 2016 (Doc. 94) is
granted.
DATED this 21st day of December 2016, at Santa Fe, New Mexico.
_______________________
United States Circuit Judge
Sitting by Designation
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Counsel:
Arash “Asher” Kashanian, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiffs.
Sean Olivas, Keleher & McCleod, P.A., Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendants
Joyce Bustos and Jane Gagne.
Ari Biernoff, Assistant Attorney General (and Hector H. Balderas, New Mexico Attorney
General), Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Defendants Hon. Donita Sena, Hon. Donna
Bevacqua-Young, Hon. Pat Casados, Michelle Portillo, and Hon. Sylvia LaMar.
Joseph P. Walsh, Sommer, Udall, Sutin, Hardwick & Hyatt, P.A., Santa Fe, New Mexico,
for Defendant Audrey Montoya.
Nathan Winger, Winger & Associates, PC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendant
Allstate Insurance Company.
Scott Fuqua, Fuqua Law & Policy, P.C., Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Defendant Lynn
Pickard.
Robert Richards, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Defendant Pamela Reynolds.
Robert Richards, pro se.
Luis Robles and Jordon George, Robles, Rael & Anaya, Albuquerque, New Mexico for
Defendants Judah Ben Montano, A. Arroyo, and E. Montijo.
Michael Dickman, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Defendants Robert Garcia, William
Pacheco, Antonio Gutierrez, and Anna Montoya.

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