SHEILA K. OBERTO, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ORDER SETTING REMAINING DISCOVERY DEADLINES
SHEILA K. OBERTO, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This action proceeds on Plaintiff's excessive force claims against Defendants Vasquez, Fisher and Washington, and deliberate indifference to serious medical needs claim against Defendant Ramos. Following the issuance of District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston's Order Adopting Findings and Recommendations Following Evidentiary Hearing on September 27, 2023, this Court now sets the following deadlines for the completion of fact discovery:
Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 16, and 26 through 36, discovery shall proceed as follows.
I. WRITTEN DISCOVERY
Discovery requests shall be served by the parties pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5 and Local Rule 135 and shall only be filed when required by Local Rules 250.2, 250.3, and 250.4.
The parties are limited to 25 interrogatories as described by the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33, 25 requests for admission made according to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36, and 25 requests to produce made according to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34.
Responses to document requests shall include all documents within a party's possession, custody, or control. Fed.R.Civ.P. (a)(1). Documents are deemed within party's possession, custody, or control if the party has actual possession, custody, or control thereof, or the legal right to obtain the property on demand. Allen v. Woodford, No. CV-F-05-1104 OWW LJO, 2007 WL 309945, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 30, 2007).
Responses to written discovery requests shall be due 45 days after the request is first served. Thus, all discovery requests must be served at least 45 days before the discovery deadline. Likewise, all motions to compel must be filed on or before the discovery deadline.
If disputes arise about a parties' obligation to respond to requests for discovery, the parties shall comply with all pertinent rules including Rules 5, 7, 11, 26, and 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules 110, 130, 131, 133, 135, 142, 144, and 230(l) of the Local Rules of Practice for the United States District Court, Eastern District of California. Unless otherwise ordered, however, Local Rule 251 and the requirements set forth in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 and 37 - that a party certify he/she has conferred in good faith or attempted to confer with the opponent in an effort to resolve the dispute prior to seeking court action - shall not apply. Nevertheless, voluntary compliance with this provision of Rules 26 and 37 is encouraged.
A discovery motion that does not comply with all applicable rules will be stricken and may result in imposition of sanctions. Further, a motion is not appropriate to compel documents that are equally available to the moving party. For example, the plaintiff may not file a motion to compel production of documents contained in the inmate's own central file.
II. DEPOSITIONS
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2)(B), Defendants may depose Plaintiff and any other witness confined in a prison, by video or in person, provided that, at least 14 days before such a deposition, Defendants serve all parties with the notice required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(1).
This permission is on the condition that it is consistent with prison policy and the prison has the need equipment for the video deposition. ---------s
Disagreement with any directive of security staff at the correctional facility at which the deposition is scheduled is not a basis for the plaintiff to refuse to answer appropriate questions and the failure of Plaintiff to attend, be sworn, and answer appropriate questions may result in sanctions, including terminating sanctions as provided in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37.
III. DEADLINES FOR FACT DISCOVERY
1. The deadline for the completion of all discovery, including filing motions to compel, is
March 1, 2024;
2. The deadline for filing pre-trial dispositive motions is
May 1, 2024; and
3. The defense
SHALL also lodge a Word version of any motion to
skoorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Likewise, the defense
SHALL mail or deliver courtesy hard copies of all motions over 10 pages to the court at
2500 Tulare St., Fresno, CA 93721. Emailed copies and courtesy hard copies
SHALL reflect the CM/ECF document numbers and pagination.
IV. EXTENSIONS OF TIME
A request for an extension of time of any deadline set in this Order must be filed at least two weeks before it expires. The deadlines set forth above are firm and will only be extended upon a showing of good cause.
The parties are required to act in good faith during the course of discovery and are reminded that failure to do so may result in the imposition of sanctions.
IT IS SO ORDERED.