Williams v. Franklin County Municipal Court et al

Filing 37

ORDER granting 21 , 28 Motion to Quash. It is ordered that the deposition of Judge Harland Hale will proceed at the offices of Judge Harlands counsel between December 26, 2011 and December 29, 2011, the precise date to be agreed upon by the parties. Signed by Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King on 12/05/11. (rew)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
EASTERN DIVISION
BRENDA WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff,
vs.

Civil Action 2:10-CV-1155
Judge Marbley
Magistrate Judge King

FRANKLIN COUNTY MUNICIPAL
COURT, et al.,
Defendants.
ORDER
On December 5, 2011, the Court conferred with counsel for the
parties and movants regarding the motions to quash, Doc. Nos. 21, 28.
Plaintiff has issued a documents subpoena to the Ohio
Disciplinary Counsel, seeking production of
[a]ll documents relating to complaints made
naming Judge Harland Hale . . . made by Brenda
Williams, Teresa Berry, or any other person, . .
. relating to any investigation conducted . . .
in response to complaints . . . , relating to any
actions, recommendations or other communications
by [the Office of Disciplinary Counsel] to Hale
or any other office or entity . . . [and] related
to communications with the Franklin County
Municipal Court or the Office of the Columbus
City Attorney regarding allegations against Hale
. . . .
Subpoena, attached as Exhibit A to Motion to Quash Subpoena of
Jonathan E. Coughlan.

In the Court’s estimation, to the extent that

the information sought by the subpoena is relevant to the substance of
plaintiff’s claims, that information is available to plaintiff from
other sources, including plaintiff herself. Plaintiff also contends
that the information sought by the subpoena relates to the credibility
of plaintiff or other witnesses;

however, the credibility of such

witnesses has not thus far been challenged in this litigation.

Under

these circumstances, and without determining whether such information
is otherwise immune from discovery, the Court GRANTS the Motion to
Quash Subpoena of Jonathan E. Coughlan, Doc. No. 21.

See Fed. R. Civ.

P. 26(b)(2)(C)(i), (iii).
Plaintiff also apparently issued a deposition subpoena to Judge
Harland Hale, who moves to quash the subpoena based on (1) the
circumstances under which the subpoena was served, (2) the
inconvenience of the date of the deposition, (3) the possibility that
Judge Hale might, in the future, be subject to a burdensome redeposition and (4) the confidentiality of the anticipated areas of
inquiry.

During the course of the conference, counsel for plaintiff

represented that he will not, during the course of the deposition,
make inquiry violative of the confidentiality provisions of the
parties’ settlement agreement; plaintiff also agreed that the
deposition and the transcript of the deposition will be maintained in
confidence pending final resolution of that issue by the Court.

Under

these circumstances, it is ORDERED that the deposition of Judge
Harland Hale will proceed at the offices of Judge Harland’s counsel
between December 26, 2011 and December 29, 2011, the precise date to
be agreed upon by the parties.

The information adduced during the

course of the deposition, as well as the transcript of the deposition,
will be temporarily maintained in confidence by the parties on the
express condition that, no later than sixty (60) days after the filing
of any motion for summary judgment, the deponent – upon motion and for
good cause shown – establishes that the deposition should be
permanently sealed.

This order resolves the motions reflected at Doc. Nos. 21, 28.

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The Clerk shall remove those motions from the Court’s pending motions
list.

December 5, 2011

s/Norah McCann King
Norah McCann King
United States Magistrate Judge

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