Booth v. City of Dallas

312 F.R.D. 427, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 455, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169225, 2015 WL 9259060
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedDecember 18, 2015
DocketNo. 3:15-cv-2435-P
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 312 F.R.D. 427 (Booth v. City of Dallas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Booth v. City of Dallas, 312 F.R.D. 427, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 455, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169225, 2015 WL 9259060 (N.D. Tex. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

DAVID L. HORAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Plaintiff Allison Anne Booth has filed an Emergency Motion to Quash Subpoena to City of Dallas Fire-Rescue Department and Request for Protection, see Dkt. No. 11, which Chief Judge Jorge A. Solis has referred to the undersigned United States magistrate judge for determination, see Dkt. No. 12.

On December 9, 2015, the Court entered an electronic order setting accelerated deadlines for the filing of a response and reply. See Dkt. No. 13. The City of Dallas (the “City”) has filed a response, see Dkt. No. 15, and Plaintiff has filed a reply, see Dkt. No. 17. The Court held oral argument on the motion on December 17, 2015. See Dkt. No. 18.

For the reasons explained below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs Emergency Motion to Quash Subpoena to City of Dallas Fire-Rescue Department and Request for Protection [Dkt. No. 11] and enters an order permitting the Dallas Fire Rescue Department (“DF-R”) to comply with the City’s subpoena.

Background

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants City of Dallas and Officer Ryan Lowman used excessive force in arresting her on May 11, 2014. See Dkt. Nos. 1 & 5.

The City has answered. See Dkt. No. 1-4. Officer Lowman has not yet answered but, according to the City’s counsel, will do so no later than December 29, 2015 and will plead qualified immunity as an affirmative defense to Plaintiffs claims. See Dkt. No. 15.

In a Joint Report of Contents of Scheduling Order, the City and Plaintiff reported to the Court as follows:

The Parties anticipate that several Dallas police officers will be added as defendants by November 2, 2015. The Parties propose that initial discovery be limited to the qualified immunity inquiry.
The Parties propose that discovery be conducted in phases, with the first phase limited to the issues of qualified immunity and the second phase, if necessary, focused on all remaining issues, including the nature and measure of Plaintiffs damages and areas of police conduct and police procedure.

Dkt. No. 4 at 1, 2.

The Court then entered a Qualified Immunity Discovery and Briefing Schedule that ordered that “[discovery limited to the issue of qualified immunity shall be initiated in [430]*430time to be completed by February 2, 2016” and that “[a]ll other discovery is stayed pending resolution of the qualified immunity issue.” Dkt, No. 6 at 1.

The City then caused a subpoena to be served on DF-R for production of “[cjopies of all paramedic records for care provided to Allison Booth on May 11, 2014.” Dkt, No. 17-1.

Legal Standards

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), the Court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1). “[T]he burden is upon [the party seeking the protective order] to show the necessity of its issuance, which contemplates a particular and specific demonstration of fact as distinguished from stereotyped and conclusory statements.” In re Terra Int'l 134 F.3d 302, 306 (6th Cir.1998) (citation omitted). The Court has broad discretion in determining whether to grant a motion for a protective order. See Harris v. Amoco Prod. Co., 768 F.2d 669, 684 (6th Cir.1985).

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45, a party may serve a subpoena commanding a nonparty “to whom it is directed to ... produce designated documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things in that person’s possession, custody, or control.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(l)(A)(iii). “When a subpoena is issued as a discovery device, relevance for purposes of the undue burden test is measured according to the standard of [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 26(b)(1).” Williams v. City of Dallas, 178 F.R.D. 103, 110 (N.D.Tex.1998). Rule 26(b)(1) has been amended, effective December 1, 2015, to provide that, “[u]nless otherwise limited by court order, the scope of discovery is as follows: Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). Under 28 U.S.C. § 2074(a) and an order of the United States Supreme Court, Rule 26 as amended governs all civil cases commenced after December 1, 2015 and “insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then pending.” http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/ courtorders/frcv15(update)_1823.pdf. The Court finds that applying the standards of Rule 26(b)(1), as amended, to the subpoena at issue and Plaintiffs motion to compel is both just and practicable where the City is not entitled to enforce its subpoena against a non-party based on a greater scope of discovery than should apply to any discovery against any party going forward.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(3)(A), “[o]n timely motion, the court for the district where compliance is required must quash or modify a subpoena that (i) fails to allow a reasonable time to comply; (ii) requires a person to comply beyond the geographical limits specified in Rule 45(c); (iii) requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter, if no exception or waiver applies; or (iv) subjects a person to undue burden.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(d)(3)(A). The moving party has the burden of proof. See Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 392 F.3d 812, 818 (5th Cir.2004); Williams, 178 F.R.D. at 109.

A party, although not in possession or control of the materials sought in a subpoena and not the person to whom the subpoena is directed, has standing to file a motion to quash or modify under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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312 F.R.D. 427, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 455, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169225, 2015 WL 9259060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/booth-v-city-of-dallas-txnd-2015.