Rosemond v. Miranda et al

Filing 54

ORDER notifying parties the court is reluctant to revise a scheduling order on the basis of pending criminal charges. Signed by Honorable Joseph F Anderson, Jr on 12/12/2013. (bshr, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA

John Rosemond as Guardian ad Litem
for the minor M.R.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
Augustin Miranda and United States of
America,
Defendants.
____________________________________

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C/A: 3:12-2931-JFA-PJG

ORDER

This court has entered contemporaneously a revised scheduling order upon motion of
counsel for the parties. Among the grounds asserted for revising the scheduling order is the
fact that there are pending criminal charges against defendant Augustin Miranda.
In this court’s experience, deferring to the criminal process might seem at first glance
advisable, but it has caused a civil case to remain on this court’s docket for inordinate periods
of time. In other litigation, when the court acquiesced to a request that the criminal process
be allowed to play out, the parties suggested that this requires the court to stay the case until
the United States Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari, a process which, if
played out to conclusion, can take up to four years.
Because of this experience, the court is reluctant to revise a scheduling order simply
on the basis of pending criminal charges. This order is being entered to apprise the parties
of this fact so that they will not expect that routine extensions will be granted in the future.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

December 12, 2013
Columbia, South Carolina

Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.
United States District Judge