Gould v. State of North Dakota et al

Filing 51

ORDER by Magistrate Judge Charles S. Miller, Jr. denying 48 Motion to Compel without prejudice. (BG)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT NORTH DAKOTA
NORTHWESTERN DIVISION
Isaac T.L. Gould, Sr.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
Williams County, Sheriff Scott Bushing,
and Lieutenant Royce Crone,
Defendants.

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ORDER

Case No. 4:14-cv-018

Plaintiff Isaac T.L. Gould, Sr. (“Gould”) is a pretrial detainee at the Williams County
Correctional Center (“WCCC”). On October 10, 2014, he filed what the court construes as a motion
to compel various discovery responses from defendants.
Gould made no apparent effort to serve defendants with discovery requests prior to filing the
instant motion. Consequently, the court finds the motion to be premature.
Discovery requests are to be made directly to defendants through their attorneys, in accordance
with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a). Defendants are then required
to respond timely by fulfilling the requests and/or objecting. If defendants do not respond timely or
sufficiently, Gould may then file a motion to compel with the court.1 In the interim, Gould’s instant
motion to compel (Docket No. 48) is DENIED without prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 14th day of October, 2014.
/s/ Charles S. Miller, Jr.
Charles S. Miller, Jr., Magistrate Judge
United States District Court

1

D.N.D. Civ. L.R. 37.1(A) provides that parties may not file a discovery motion until they have conferred,
either by telephone or in person, and made a good faith effort to resolve their dispute without court involvement.
The court will excuse this requirement in this case, however, as Gould is incarcerated.