Chernyy v. Roesler

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedMay 6, 2024
Docket8:21-cv-00366
StatusUnknown

This text of Chernyy v. Roesler (Chernyy v. Roesler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chernyy v. Roesler, (D. Neb. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

ANNA J. CHERNYY,

Plaintiff, 8:21CV366

vs. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER MONTY ROESLER, in his official capacity; JOHN DOE I, in his individual and official capacity; ALAN MOORE, in his individual and official capacity; and SALINE COUNTY,

Defendants.

The Court held a telephonic discovery conference on May 3, 2024. Counsel for Plaintiff and Defendants were present, and argument was held. Prior to the discovery conference, both counsel for Plaintiff and counsel for Defendants Alan Moore, Saline County, and Monty Roesler, in his official capacity, (“Defendants”) submitted short written submissions regarding the disputes at issue. The Court attaches these written submissions, as well as the relevant documents for this Order. See Exhibits A-D. The two issues that were ripe for disposition before the Court on May 3, 2024 were: (1) an on-site inspection of the Saline County jail, and (2) the scheduling of the Plaintiff’s expert deposition. Upon further review of the parties’ submissions, as well as the argument on the record, it became clear to the Court that the crux of the issue was the deadlines set forth in this Courts’ most recent progression order. For the reasons stated on the record and set forth below, the Court denied Plaintiff’s request to inspect the Saline County jail and granted Defendants request to depose Plaintiff’s expert on May 9, 2024. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 19, 2021, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint setting forth claims which alleged: (1) violation of her Eighth Amendment rights; (2) and (3) violation of her rights under 42 U.S.C. 1983; (4) battery; and (5) intentional infliction of emotional distress. Filing No. 9. Throughout the pendency of this matter, the Court has amended the Progression Order in this matter three times. Filing No. 71, 74, and 84. On December 5, 2023, when amending the final progression order, the Court explicitly stated that deadline extensions “will not be considered absent a showing of due diligence in the timely progression of this case and the recent development of circumstances unanticipated prior to the filing of the motion, which require that additional time be allowed.” Filing No. 71. The most recent extensions to the Progression Order deadline occurred on March 11, 2024. The aforementioned language was also present in that order. Filing No. 84. Prior to granting the parties’ motion to amend the scheduling order on March 11, 2024, the undersigned had a conference with the parties to understand the presence of good cause to support the extension request, particularly due to the length of time the matter had been pending, as well as the prior extensions. Filing No. 85. During this conference, Plaintiff advised the Court that Plaintiff was recently released from jail and that, while Plaintiff was incarcerated, it was difficult to communicate with her. More specifically, Plaintiff’s counsel advised her release had facilitated the discovery process. Plaintiff’s counsel set forth examples of this newly facilitated communication to include allowing Plaintiff’s counsel to communicate with their client regarding interrogatory responses and potential witnesses in this matter. Ultimately, the Court extended the deadlines set forth in the progression order due to the recent release of Plaintiff from incarceration as the change in circumstances was unanticipated and showed good cause. When extending the deadlines on March 11, 2024, the Court adopted every deadline proposed by Plaintiff. The following deadlines are relevant to the current dispute: The deadline for completing written discovery under Rules 33, 34, 36 and 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is May 1, 2024. Motions to compel written discovery under Rules 33, 34, 36, and 45 must be filed by May 15, 2024. . . . The deadlines for identifying expert witnesses expected to testify at the trial, (both retained experts, (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B)), and non- retained experts, (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(C)), are: For the plaintiff(s): March 14, 2024. For the defendant(s): May 15, 2024. The deadlines for complete expert disclosures for all experts expected to testify at trial, (both retained experts, (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B)), and non-retained experts, (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(C)), are: For the plaintiff(s): April 15, 2024. For the defendant(s): June 14, 2024. Filing No. 84. It is worthwhile to note that, though this Court provides for the option of including rebuttal expert deadlines in proposed progression orders, Plaintiff did not propose rebuttal expert deadlines in any progression order presented to this Court nor did she express the need for such on the March 11, 2024 call. See Rule 26(f) Report Form p. 7, footnote 6. On May 2, 2024, the parties advised the Court that they were currently engaged in a time-sensitive discovery dispute, namely the deposition of Plaintiff’s expert, Jan Perdue.1 According to the parties’ submissions, Plaintiff indicated Ms. Perdue could be deposed on May 9, 2024. See Exhibit B; Filing No. 92-2. However, after this representation, Plaintiff sent a Rule 342 request for a site inspection of the Saline County jail with Ms. Perdue that would not occur until June 5, 2024. See Exhibit C. The parties advised the Court that, should Ms. Perdue not be deposed prior to May 10, 2024, Ms. Perdue would not be available for a deposition until early June 2024 and less than two weeks before Defendant’s current expert disclosure deadline. The Court held a discovery dispute hearing on May 3, 2024, during which the Court issued oral findings. This written order supplements and memorializes such findings. ANALYSIS 1. Jail Inspection While Plaintiff made no formal motion to modify the case progression order, the course of action she proposes requires just that. Specifically, Plaintiff seeks to inspect the Saline County jail on June 5, 2024 with her retained expert.3 Based on this inspection, Plaintiff infers her expert may “supplement” her report. Filing No. 95, audio file at 7:35-10:20. In practice, Plaintiff seeks to extend the deadline to

1 On April 29, 2024, Plaintiff contacted the Court requesting a discovery conference. See Exhibit A. Thereafter, on May 2, 2024, Defendants filed an Objection to Plaintiff’s request for inspection. Filing No. 92. Submissions by the parties illustrate that the issues to be addressed in the conference requested by Plaintiff are the same as those addressed in Defendants’ objection. Based on the time sensitive nature of the dispute, the Court elected to rule on the issues without further motion practice. See Dietz v. Bouldin, 579 U.S. 40, 47 (2016) (“district courts have the inherent authority to manage their dockets and courtrooms with a view toward the efficient and expedient resolution of cases.”).

2 Plaintiff’s certificate of service instead cites to Rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Filing No. 90.

3 The undersigned recognizes that Plaintiff proposed dates earlier than June 3, 2024 for the proposed inspection in email communication. However, at no time did Plaintiff propose a date on or before May 1, 2024.

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Chernyy v. Roesler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chernyy-v-roesler-ned-2024.