Ross v. Conner et al

Filing 93

ORDER denying as moot 83 Motion for Discovery to Take Prison Depositions; granting 91 Motion for Discovery to Take Prison Depositions, and Defendants shall be allowed to take Plaintiff's deposition at Mountain View Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.. Signed by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney on 7/14/2015. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.)(khm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
1:14-cv-98-FDW
TERRENCE JAVARR ROSS,

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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RANDY CONNER, et al.,
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Defendants.
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__________________________________________)

ORDER

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendants’ two separate motions, filed
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2)(B), for an order by this Court allowing
Defendants to take a prison deposition of Plaintiff, (Doc. Nos. 83; 91).1 The first motion was
filed on June 23, 2015, while Plaintiff was incarcerated at Piedmont Correctional Institution, and
Defendants sought to take Plaintiff’s deposition at that prison. The second motion was filed on
July 8, 2015, and the motion seeks to take Plaintiff’s deposition at the prison where Plaintiff is
currently incarcerated—Mountain View Correctional Institution.
Plaintiff opposes Defendants’ motions to take his deposition. Plaintiff notes correctly
that this Court has entered an order denying Plaintiff’s previous motions to compel and staying
discovery as to Defendants Mason and Piercy pending a ruling by the Court on the issue of

1

In this action, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiff alleges that on March 14, 2013,
Defendant Randy Conner, a detective with the Shelby Police Department, used excessive force
against Plaintiff at the Cleveland County Detention Center and violated Plaintiff’s Fourth
Amendment rights while attempting to extract DNA from Plaintiff’s person, and that Defendants
Mason and Piercy, detention officers with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department, assisted
Conner in using excessive force against Plaintiff and also failed to intervene against the
excessive force used by Defendant Conner.
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qualified immunity as to these two Defendants. See (Doc. No. 76). Plaintiff contends that
because the Court has stayed discovery as to these two Defendants, none of the Defendants,
including Defendant Conner, should be allowed to take Plaintiff’s deposition. This Court does
not agree. As there is no stay of discovery as to Defendant Conner, the Court will allow
Plaintiff’s deposition to be taken at this time.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
(1) Defendants’ Motion for Discovery to Take Prison Depositions, (Doc. No. 91), is
GRANTED. Defendants shall be allowed to take Plaintiff’s deposition at Mountain
View Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The deposition shall
take place at Mountain View Correctional Institution on July 17, 2015, at 1:00 p.m.,
or at another time as designated by prison officials.
(2) Defendants’ Motion for Discovery to Take Prison Depositions, (Doc. No. 83), is
DENIED as moot because Plaintiff has been transferred away from Piedmont
Correctional Institution, and because the Court has granted Defendants’ subsequent
motion to take Plaintiff’s deposition where he is currently incarcerated.

2