Cochran v. Cochran

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA AT BLUEFIELD JONATHAN COCHRAN, Plaintiff, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:21-00586 INVESTIGATOR MIKE COCHRAN and JOHN DOES, Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Pending on the court’s docket is defendant Mike Cochran’s motion for leave to take the deposition of plaintiff Jonathan Cochran, an incarcerated person. (ECF No. 31). According to defendant’s motion, plaintiff Cochran is currently incarcerated as a pre-trial felon in the South Central Regional Jail. See id. at ¶ 7. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2)(B) requires a party to “obtain leave of court” to take a deposition “if the deponent is confined in prison.” However, plaintiff is not confined in a “prison” but, rather, is a pre-trial detainee in “jail.” Therefore, the court has doubts that a court order to take plaintiff’s deposition is even required under the federal rule. See Blackwell v. Houser, 5:16-cv-67-FDW, 2017 WL 392184, at *2 n.1 (W.D.N.C. Jan. 27, 2017) (no court order to take deposition of plaintiff required where “[p]laintiff is a pretrial detainee being housed in a local county jail”).* However, in the event such an order is required, defendant’s motion is GRANTED. The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to counsel of record and unrepresented parties. IT IS SO ORDERED this 13th day of April, 2023. ENTER: Raut O Dabo David A. Faber Senior United States District Judge

In both cases cited in defendant’s motion, the deponent was in prison.