Ellis v. City of New York

243 F.R.D. 109, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 521, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43819, 2007 WL 1746255
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 15, 2007
DocketNo. 06 CIV. 4827 (LTS)(RLE)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 243 F.R.D. 109 (Ellis v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellis v. City of New York, 243 F.R.D. 109, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 521, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43819, 2007 WL 1746255 (S.D.N.Y. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

ELLIS, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Renal Ellis (“Ellis”), brings this action against defendants, the City of New York; Police Officer Michael La Vecchia; and Sergeant Jay Santana (“the City”), alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the First, Fourth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. On Octob'er 10, 2006, United States District Judge Laura T. Swain referred the case to the undersigned for pretrial supervision. After the close of discovery, the case was referred back to Judge Swain for trial. On June 1, Ellis moved to quash a subpoena issued by the City, and, on June 4, 2007, Judge Swain referred the case for resolution of this issue. Pending before the Court is plaintiffs motion to quash a subpoena for plaintiffs tax returns, and defendants’ motion to compel plaintiff to provide a release permitting defendants to obtain his arrest records. For the following reasons, plaintiffs motion is GRANTED, and defendants’ motion is DENIED.

II. BACKGROUND

Ellis claims that, on August 19, 2005, La Vecchia and Santana subjected him to false arrest, retaliation, excessive force, fabricated evidence and malicious prosecution. First Amended Complaint (“Compl.”), If1. Ellis asserts that, on the day in question, the police had visited his home, and that he had gone to the 71st Police Precinct to ask what the purpose of the visit had been. Id. If 8. After waiting several hours, La Vecchia asked him why he was at the precinct. Id. HH10-12. Ellis claims that, when he told La Vecchia why he was there, La Vecchia told him he had no information and threatened to arrest him if he did not leave immediately. Id. If 12. When Ellis did not leave, La Vecchia, with the approval of Santana, arrested him. Id. If 13. Ellis alleges that he was held in custody for several hours, and suffered physical and emotional injuries. Id. 1f1f 14, 19. The charges were eventually dismissed after Ellis had made several court appearances and had retained counsel to represent him. Id. Iflf 17-18.

Ellis filed this action on June 22, 2006. On October 6, Judge Swain issued a pretrial scheduling order, which set an initial discovery deadline of February 28, 2007. This deadline was extended by the Court, initially to March 15 and later to March 31. On June 1, the City subpoenaed, from the Internal Revenue Service, Ellis’s tax returns for the years 2001 through 2006. Ellis moved to quash the subpoena on the grounds that: 1) [111]*111the request was an untimely attempt to engage in additional discovery after the cut-off date set by the Court; and 2) it requires the disclosure of confidential material and no exception or waiver applies. Plaintiffs Motion to Quash Subpoena (“Pl.Mot.”), at 1. The City argues that the subpoena is not untimely because they requested the tax returns at Ellis’s deposition, where Ellis did not object to the production and indicated that he would provide the releases. Defendants’ Motion in Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Quash Subpoena and for Order Compelling Plaintiff to Provide a Release Permitting Access to his Arrest Records (“Def.Mot.”), at 4. The City states that it did not move to compel the tax returns earlier because the information did not appear critical at the time. However, based on their discovery of Ellis’s criminal history, the City now believes that the “income tax records would be useful to defendant for purposes of impeaching plaintiff concerning his uses of aliases and different dates of birth.” Id.

In its motion in opposition to Ellis’s motion to quash the subpoena, the City also moves to compel Ellis to sign releases so that it can obtain his sealed arrest records. Id. at 3-4. The City argues that they are entitled to this information because Ellis is seeking damages for both emotional and physical injuries arising out of his arrest, which makes his past arrests and detentions potentially relevant. Id. In addition, the City argues that it cannot be accused of being untimely in their request because they were relying on Ellis’s representations that he had only been arrested on one previous occasion. Id. The City did not find out that this information was inaccurate until it received a report from the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) concerning unrelated CCRB complaints filed by Ellis. Id. at 1. Ellis objects to the City’s motion to compel, which he characterizes as a motion to reopen discovery, on the ground that it is untimely. Plaintiffs Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Compel Releases (“PI. Opp’n”), at 1. He claims that the City has not shown good cause why their request, which comes after the close of discovery and the submission of the joint pretrial order, joint jury instructions and proposed voir dire questions, should be granted, and that such good cause is required under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Judge Swain’s pretrial scheduling order. Id. at 1-2. In addition, Ellis argues that the City could have obtained the CCRB report at any point after the filing of the complaint because CCRB is a city agency that would have honored a request by the City. Id.

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Legal Standard

The Federal Rules provide for courts to enter a scheduling order for the completion of discovery, and such order “shall not be modified except upon a showing of good cause” and by leave of the court. Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(b). The scope of discovery is generally limited to any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action or appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b). “Relevancy is broadly construed to encompass any matter that bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Carey v. Berisford Metals Corp., 1991 WL 44843, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Mar.28, 1991) (quotations and citation omitted). The Court has broad discretion in managing discovery. Wills v. Amerada Hess Corp., 379 F.3d 32, 41 (2d Cir.2004); In re Fitch, Inc., 330 F.3d 104, 108 (2d Cir.2003); Cruden v. Bank of New York, 957 F.2d 961, 972 (2d Cir.1992).

B. Motion to Quash Subpoena

Under Rule 45(c)(3)(A), a court can quash or modify a subpoena if it “requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter and no exception or waiver applies ...” Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(c)(3)(A).

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Bluebook (online)
243 F.R.D. 109, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 521, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43819, 2007 WL 1746255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2007.