Opinion

(PC) Brown v. Bugge

Court
District Court, E.D. California
Filed
Nov 14, 2023
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 18.4%

The opinion

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 MARK A. BROWN, No. 2:22-cv-2118 KJN P

12 Plaintiff,

13 v. ORDER

14 B. BUGGE, et al.,

15 Defendants.

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17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se. On October 13, 2023, plaintiff filed a

18 motion for additional time to conduct discovery, as well as a sixty day stay of this action.

19 Plaintiff claims that his inability to obtain photocopies is impeding his ability to conduct

20 discovery, and his receipt of legal mail has been delayed. On October 23, 2023, defendants filed

21 an opposition. Plaintiff did not file a reply. As discussed below, plaintiff’s motion is denied.

22 “The district court is given broad discretion in supervising the pretrial phase of litigation.”

23 Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992) (citation and internal

24 quotation marks omitted). Rule 16(b) provides that “[a] schedule may be modified only for good

25 cause and with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). “The schedule may be modified

26 ‘if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.’”

27 Zivkovic v. Southern California Edison Co., 302 F.3d 1080, 1087 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting

28 Johnson, 975 F.2d at 607).

] Here, under the discovery and scheduling order, discovery opened on June 29, 2023, and

2 | all discovery requests were to be propounded no later than August 21, 2023. (ECF No. 22 □□□ □

3 || 6.) Given such deadlines, plaintiff fails to demonstrate how the recent thirty-day denial of

4 || photocopy services impacted his ability to propound or respond to discovery in this case. Indeed,

5 || plaintiff provided no specific facts as to what documents have been impacted, either by

6 || photocopy delays or delays in receipt of legal mail. Plaintiff fails to identify what additional

7 || discovery he needs. Moreover, defendants demonstrate that on July 17, 2023, plaintiff served

8 || requests for production of documents and requests for admissions, and defendants responded on

9 || September 15, 2023. (ECF No. 24 at 5.) On October 4, 2023, plaintiff brought documents to his

10 || deposition and defendants’ counsel helped plaintiff get assistance to make a copy of the

11 || documents to send to defendants’ counsel. (ECF No. 24 at 5.) Plaintiff did not file a reply or

12 || rebut counsel’s declaration.

13 Plaintiff's conclusory request for a 60 day stay of this action is unsupported by specific

14 || facts or evidence.

15 The record reflects that plaintiff was able to propound discovery and he fails to

16 || demonstrate good cause to extend the discovery deadline. His motion also fails to show that a

17 || stay of this case is warranted.

18 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion (ECF No. 23) is denied.

19 | Dated: November 13, 2023

20 Aectl Aharon

21 KENDALL J. NE

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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