Anwari v. Momand

District Court, N.D. California·Decided June 11, 2024·No. 3:22-cv-04357·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 6 7 SHARIFA ANWARI, Case No. 22-cv-04357-AMO

8 Petitioner, ORDER RE DISCOVERY DISPUTES v. 9 Re: Dkt. Nos. 119, 120, 121 Respondent. 11

12 13 Before the Court are three joint discovery letter briefs filed by the parties in this 14 international child custody case. ECF 119, 120, 121. This order assumes familiarity with the facts 15 of the case, the relevant legal standards, and the arguments made by the parties. The Court 16 resolves the parties’ discovery disputes as set forth below. 17 I. REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION (“RFPs”) 18 In ruling on the disputed RFPs, the Court STRIKES portions of Respondent’s discovery 19 responses that state “[s]ubject to and without waiving” objections as well as any general 20 objections because Respondent has failed to establish that such phrasing and general objections 21 are proper. See Sandigo v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 17-CV-002727-BLF-NC, 2018 WL 22 4293339, at *2 (N.D. Cal. July 18, 2018) (“A response with ‘[s]ubject to and without waiving 23 these objections . . . ’ can confuse or mislead the requesting party as to whether the responding 24 party has fully or only partially responded to the discovery request.”) (citations omitted); Fischer 25 v. Forrest, No. 14-CIV-1304-PAEA-JP, 2017 WL 773694, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 28, 2017) 26 (“incorporating all of the [g]eneral [o]bjections into each response violates Rule 34(b)(2)(B)’s 27 specificity requirement as well as Rule 34(b)(2)(C)’s requirement to indicate whether any 1 however, that “[n]otwithstanding his objections, [he has] agreed to produce the requested 2 documents.” See ECF 121 at 4. The Court construes this statement to mean that Respondent is 3 not withholding responsive documents on the basis of any general objections. He must provide 4 such confirmation to Petitioner within 5 days of this order. 5 The Court now rules on Petitioner’s request to compel compliance with the contested RFPs 6 as follows: 7 No. Request Ruling All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED. Respondent states that he 8 16 COMMUNICATIONS “will produce documents in his possession, custody or 9 RELATING TO the control that are responsive to this request, to the extent that CHILD’s living situation any such documents exist.” See ECF 122-1 at 35. 10 in Germany. Respondent’s objection to the term “living situation” as vague and ambiguous, see id., is OVERRULED. 11 All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED. Respondent states that he 17 COMMUNICATIONS “will produce documents in his possession, custody or 12 RELATING TO the control that relate to the conditions of the premises where 13 conditions of the physical the child lives or has lived, to the extent that any such address at which the documents exist.” See ECF 122-1 at 35. Respondent’s 14 CHILD lives or has lived objection to the term “conditions” as vague and ambiguous, in the United States, see id., is OVERRULED. 15 including but not limited to, all such 16 DOCUMENTS relating to 17 Momand v. Frit San Jose Town & Country Village, 18 LLC, No. 21CV382249 (Santa Clara Superior 19 Court). 20 18 DOCUMENTS sufficient DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Petitioner has not to show Respondent’s sufficiently briefed whether this Court can order production 21 father’s health condition of a third-party’s health information over Respondent’s from 2019 to 2022. objection that this request “seeks documents protected by 22 the privacy rights of a person not a party to these proceedings.” See ECF 122-1 at 35. The sole case – 23 Sinclair v. San Jose Unified Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., No. 20- 24 cv-02798-LHK (VKD), 2021 WL 3140883, at *3 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2021) – Petitioner relies on is inapposite, as it 25 involved personnel records of a teacher employed by the defendant school district. 26 All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED. The Respondent’s objection that “the 25 COMMUNICATIONS requested documents are equally accessible to Petitioner[,]” 27 RELATING TO any court see ECF 122-1 at 37, is OVERRULED. See Wills v. City of Respondent and Petitioner 1100036, at *6 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 13, 2024) (“Documents 1 were or are parties, being equally available to an opponent is not a blanket basis 2 including but not limited to deny production.”) (citation omitted). to, court decisions, 3 petitions, protocols, briefs, withdrawals, evidence 4 submitted, and notices of appointment, to the extent 5 not previously produced 6 by YOU. All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED IN PART. Respondent 28 7 COMMUNICATIONS states he “will produce documents in his possession, custody RELATING TO any or control that relate to any restraining order sought by 8 Domestic Violence Petitioner against Respondent, to the extent that any such Restraining Order (or its documents exist.” See ECF 122-1 at 38. Otherwise, the 9 equivalent) issued or request is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. While 10 sought against Respondent’s sole specific objection to this request, on Respondent. relevance grounds, see id., is not likely to be sustained, 11 Petitioner must narrow the request or propose some alternative that would permit narrowing, such as a list of 12 domestic violence restraining orders issued or sought against Respondent within the last 10 years. 13 All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED IN PART. Respondent 30 14 COMMUNICATIONS states he “will produce documents in his possession, custody RELATING TO or control that relate to any allegations of domestic violence 15 allegations of domestic made by Petitioner against Respondent, to the extent that violence made against any such documents exist.” See ECF 122-1 at 38. 16 Respondent in any Otherwise, the request is DENIED WITHOUT 17 jurisdiction, whether PREJUDICE. While Respondent’s sole objection to this reported to government request, on relevance grounds, see id., is not likely to be 18 authorities or not. sustained, Petitioner must narrow the request or propose some alternative that would permit narrowing, such as a list 19 of allegations of domestic violence have been made against Respondent in any jurisdiction within the last 10 years, 20 whether reported to government authorities or not. 21 31 All DOCUMENTS and GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED IN PART. Respondent COMMUNICATIONS states he “will produce documents in his possession, custody 22 RELATING TO any civil or control that relate to any civil harassment case between harassment cases in which Petitioner and Respondent, to the extent that any such 23 Respondent was or is a documents exist.” See ECF 122-1 at 38. Otherwise, the party. request is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. While 24 Respondent’s sole objection to this request, on relevance 25 grounds, see id., is not likely to be sustained, Petitioner must narrow the request or propose some alternative that would 26 permit narrowing, such as a list of any civil harassment cases, within the last 10 years, in which Respondent was or 27 is a party. COMMUNICATIONS sufficiently articulated a theory of relevance that would 1 RELATING TO any support granting the request as currently phrased. While 2 criminal case in which Respondent’s sole objection to this request, on relevance Respondent was or is a grounds, see ECF 122-1 at 39, is not likely to be sustained, 3 defendant. Petitioner must narrow the request or propose some alternative that would permit narrowing, such as seeking 4 production of a list of felony or violence-related criminal cases in which Respondent has been named as a defendant 5 in the last 10 years. 6 34 All GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED. Respondent states he “will COMMUNICATIONS by produce documents in his possession that that are responsive 7 YOU with Petitioner’s to this request, to the extent that any such documents exist.” counsel in any matter, See ECF 122-1 at 39. “Respondent[’s] object[ion] to this 8 other than Jones Day. request on the grounds that such communications are equally accessible to Petitioner in that her counsel would 9 have such communications,” see id., is OVERRULED. See 10 Wills, 2024 WL 1100036, at *6. All DOCUMENTS GRANTED AS UNOPPOSED. R

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Anwari v. Momand, (N.D. Cal. 2024).

Anwari v. Momand (Anwari v. Momand) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.