Harris, Larry v. Sutter, Carrie et al

Filing 23

ORDER denying plaintiff's 20 Motion to compel discovery. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker on 8/29/2014. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

LARRY D. HARRIS, JR.,
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
14-cv-153-jdp
CARRIE SUTTER, TIM HAINES,
KELLY TRUMM, and CATHY JESS,
Defendants.

In this lawsuit, plaintiff Larry D. Harris, Jr., a pro se prisoner, is proceeding on due
process claims that defendant Department of Corrections employees changed the prices of
commissary items without notice and that the commissary system miscalculates the sales tax due
on purchases. Now before the court is plaintiff’s motion to compel non-party Charles Facktor,
a DOC corrections complaint examiner, to produce the legal advice Facktor received from an
attorney from the Office of Legal Counsel that Facktor used in ruling in plaintiff’s favor on a
grievance regarding improper assessment of sales tax. When plaintiff sent the request to Facktor,
he received a response from the CCE office stating that the advice was protected by attorney client privilege.
The motion to compel must be denied at the outset because plaintiff has not followed
proper procedure to obtain testimony from a non-party; he did not subpoena this information
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 45. Perhaps it is not surprising that plaintiff did not follow the correct
procedure because this court has not yet held its preliminary pretrial conference,1 at which pro
se litigants are instructed about the discovery process. At this point the court takes no position
on the merits of plaintiff’s request or Facktor’s privilege argument.

1

The preliminary pretrial conference in this case is scheduled for September 16, 2014.

ORDER
It is ORDERED that plaintiff Larry Harris’s motion to compel discovery, dkt. 20, is
DENIED.
Entered this 29th day of August, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
STEPHEN L. CROCKER
Magistrate Judge

2