Anbang Group Holdings Co. Limited v. Zhou

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ANBANG GROUP HOLDINGS CO. Case No. 23-cv-00998-VC (TSH) LIMITED, et al., 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 9 v. Re: Dkt. No. 172 10 HAIBIN ZHOU, et al., 11 Defendants. 12 13 Plaintiffs move the Court for an order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(g) 14 for non-party Peter Crowley to show cause why he should not be held in civil contempt for failing 15 to comply with a deposition subpoena served on him on November 19, 2023. ECF No. 172. For 16 the reasons explained below, the Court ORDERS Crowley to appear before this Court on 17 February 15, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. to show cause why he should not be held in civil contempt for 18 failure to obey the subpoena if he does not appear for his deposition by February 1, 2024. 19 On November 19, 2023, Plaintiffs served Crowley with a deposition subpoena to appear 20 for a deposition at the offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Palo Alto, California, at 9:00 21 a.m. on December 12, 2023. Wagner Decl., ECF No. 172-1 ¶¶ 2, 3. On December 5, 2023, 22 Plaintiffs mailed Crowley a letter to his residential address, reminding him of the scheduled 23 December 12 deposition, and that they would be prepared to proceed with his deposition at that 24 time. Id. ¶ 4. On December 6, 2023, Plaintiffs sent an email to five email addresses known to 25 them as potentially belonging to Crowley, reminding him of his upcoming deposition. Id. ¶ 5. 26 Although court reporters and videographers were present and prepared for the deposition, 27 Crowley did not appear for his deposition on December 12. Id. ¶ 6. Instead, on December 12, 1 Plaintiffs’ counsel. He said that transportation difficulties had made it difficult for him to appear. 2 Plaintiffs’ counsel said he could reschedule the deposition and that he would send Crowley 3 potential dates. Later the same day, Plaintiffs’ counsel texted Crowley and offered four dates later 4 in December for his deposition. Id. ¶ 7. 5 After not hearing back from Crowley, Plaintiffs’ counsel called him the next day, 6 December 13. During their brief conversation, Crowley did not propose or agree to a new date for 7 his deposition, citing a busy schedule and the need to work before the upcoming holidays. 8 Plaintiffs’ counsel offered to take his deposition outside of business hours if that was more 9 convenient for him. Crowley stated he would respond with a proposed date or dates for his 10 deposition. Id. ¶ 8. 11 Since then, Plaintiffs’ counsel has not been able to reach Crowley. Plaintiffs have 12 attempted to reach him via phone and text numerous times, to no avail. Crowley has not answered 13 any of those attempted phone calls and has not responded to texts from Plaintiffs’ counsel. In 14 voicemails left with Crowley, Plaintiffs’ counsel warned him that Plaintiffs would seek a court 15 order if he did not respond. As of Plaintiffs’ filing on January 9, 2024, Crowley had not 16 responded. Id. ¶ 9. 17 Rule 45(g) says: “The court for the district where compliance is required . . . may hold in 18 contempt a person who, having been served, fails without adequate excuse to obey the subpoena 19 or an order related to it.” “[W]hen a non-party does not comply with a subpoena and does not 20 appear for deposition, the most appropriate procedural step is to file an application for an order to 21 show cause, not a motion to compel.” Martinez v. City of Pittsburg, 2012 WL 699462, at *4 (N.D. 22 Cal. Mar. 1, 2012). 23 “Subpoenas issued by attorneys are issued on behalf of the court and thus are treated as 24 orders of the court.” Id. at *2 (citing U.S. S.E.C. v. Hyatt, 621 F.3d 687, 693 (7th Cir. 2010)). 25 “Civil contempt is characterized by the Court’s desire to compel obedience with a court order, or 26 to compensate the contemnor’s adversary for the injuries which result from the non-compliance.” 27 Id. at *3. “A civil contempt order must be accompanied by a ‘purge’ condition, meaning, it must 1 sanction becomes due.” /d. (citing De Parcg v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for S. Dist. of Iowa, 235 F.2d 692, 2 |} 699 (8th Cir. 1956) (“[C]ivil contempt is conditional in nature and can be terminated if the 3 contemnor purges himself of the contempt.”)). 4 To establish civil contempt, Plaintiffs must show by clear and convincing evidence that 5 Crowley violated a specific order of the court. See F.T.C. v. Affordable Media, 179 F.3d 1228, 6 1239 (9th Cir. 1999). If Plaintiffs meet that burden, Crowley must then show that he took every 7 reasonable step to comply with the subpoena and to articulate reasons why compliance was not 8 possible. See Donovan v. Mazzola, 716 F.2d 1226, 1240 (9th Cir. 1983). 9 As discussed above, Plaintiffs have shown that Crowley violated a specific and definite 10 || order of the Court by failing to comply with the subpoena. The Court thus grants Plaintiffs’ 11 motion for an order to show cause. The Court ORDERS Crowley to show cause why he should 12 || not be held in contempt for his failure to comply with the subpoena if he does not appear for his 5 13 deposition by February 1, 2024. Crowley shall file a declaration by February 8, 2024, and the 14 Court shall conduct a hearing on February 15, 2024 in Courtroom E, 15th floor, 450 Golden Gate 3 15 || Avenue, San Francisco, California. Should Crowley’s deposition take place by February 1, the a 16 || parties shall notify the Court immediately, and the February 15 show cause hearing will be 3 17 vacated. The Court ORDERS Plaintiffs to serve this order on Crowley and to file a proof of 18 service showing that they have done so. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 21 Dated: January 19, 2024 22 LU \ : Lj-~— 73 THOMAS S. HIXSON United States Magistrate Judge 24 25 26 27 28