Flores v. City of Bakersfield

Opinion

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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 11 RUBEN RIVAS FLORES, Case No. 1:24-cv-00229-KES-CDB 12 Plaintiff, SCHEDULING ORDER (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16)

13 v. Discovery Deadlines: - Rule 26 Disclosures: June 10, 2024 14 CITY OF BAKERSFIELD et al., - Amended Pleadings: August 8, 2024 - Expert Disclosures: January 20, 2025 15 Defendants. - Rebuttal Expert Disclosures: March 13, 2025 - Fact Discovery Cut-Off: February 24, 2025 16 - Expert Discovery Cut-Off: April 14, 2025 - Mid-Discovery Status Conference: January 13, 17 2025, at 9:30 a.m., in Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, CA 18 93301

19 Non-Dispositive Motion Deadlines: - Filing: April 30, 2025 20 - Hearing: June 9, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 21 Dispositive Motion Deadlines: 22 - Filing: July 17, 2025 - Hearing: August 18, 2025 23 1:30 p.m., in Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse, Fresno, Courtroom 6, 7th floor 24 Pre-Trial Conference: January 12, 2026, at 1:30 25 p.m., in Fresno Federal Courthouse

26 Trial: March 3, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., before District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff 27

28 1 Plaintiff Ruben Rivas Flores initiated this action with the filing of a complaint in state court 2 on January 5, 2024. (Doc. 1). Defendants removed the action to this Court on February 22, 2024. 3 Id. Plaintiff raises claims for: (1) Unreasonable Seizure / Excessive Force under 42 U.S.C. § 4 1983; (2) Municipal Liability – Failure to train under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (3) Municipal Liability – 5 Official policy, custom, or practice under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (4) Negligence; (5) Assault and 6 Battery; (6) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; and (7) Violation of California’s Tom 7 Bane Act. 8 The parties convened via Zoom videoconference for a scheduling conference before 9 Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker on May 20, 2024. Attorneys Stephen King appeared on 10 behalf of Plaintiff and Heather Cohen appeared on behalf of Defendants. 11 I. Magistrate Judge Consent: 12 Currently the parties do not jointly consent to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction. 13 Notice of Congested Docket and Court Policy of Trailing 14 Due to the District Judges’ heavy caseload, the adopted policy of the Fresno Division of the 15 Eastern District is to trail all civil cases. The parties are hereby notified that for a trial date set before a 16 District Judge, the parties will trail indefinitely behind any higher priority criminal or older civil case 17 set on the same date until a courtroom becomes available. The trial date will not be reset. 18 The Magistrate Judges’ availability is far more realistic and accommodating to parties than that 19 of the District Judges who carry the heaviest caseloads in the nation and who must prioritize criminal 20 and older civil cases over more recently filed civil cases. A Magistrate Judge may conduct trials, 21 including entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, 22 and Local Rule 305. Any appeal from a judgment entered by a Magistrate Judge is taken directly to the 23 United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. 24 Therefore, the parties are directed to consider consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction to 25 conduct all further proceedings, including trial, and to file a consent/decline form (provided by the 26 Court at the inception of this case) indicating whether they will consent to the jurisdiction of the 27 Magistrate Judge. 28 1 II. Pleading Amendment 2 Any motions to amend the pleadings, including to substitute “Doe” defendants, must be filed by 3 August 8, 2024. Filing a motion and/or stipulation requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not 4 reflect on the propriety of the amendment or imply good cause to modify the existing schedule, if 5 necessary. All proposed amendments must (A) be supported by good cause pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6 16(b) if the amendment requires any modification to the existing schedule, see Johnson v. Mammoth 7 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992), and (B) establish, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), that 8 such an amendment is not (1) prejudicial to the opposing party, (2) the product of undue delay, (3) 9 proposed in bad faith, or (4) futile, see Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 10 III. Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Date 11 The parties shall exchange the initial disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) by no later 12 than June 10, 2024. 13 The parties are ordered to complete all discovery pertaining to non-experts on or before 14 February 24, 2025, and all discovery pertaining to experts on or before April 14, 2025. 15 The parties are directed to disclose all expert witnesses1, in writing, on or before January 20, 16 2025, and to disclose all rebuttal experts on or before March 13, 2025. The written designation of 17 retained and non-retained experts shall be made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 26(a)(2), (A), (B), and 18 (C) and shall include all information required thereunder. Failure to designate experts in compliance 19 with this order may result in the Court excluding the testimony or other evidence offered through such 20 experts that are not disclosed pursuant to this order. 21 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4) and (5) shall apply to all discovery relating to experts 22 and their opinions. Experts must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions 23 included in the designation. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of sanctions, which may 24 include striking the expert designation and preclusion of expert testimony. 25 26 1 In the event an expert will offer opinions related to an independent medical or mental health 27 evaluation, the examination SHALL occur sufficiently in advance of the disclosure deadline so the expert’s report fully details the expert’s opinions in this regard. 28 1 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e) regarding a party’s duty to timely supplement 2 disclosures and responses to discovery requests will be strictly enforced. 3 A mid-discovery status conference is scheduled for January 13, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. before 4 Judge Baker. Counsel SHALL file a joint mid-discovery status conference report no later than one 5 week before the conference. Counsel also SHALL lodge the joint status report via e-mail to 6 CDBorders@caed.uscourts.gov. The joint status report SHALL outline the discovery counsel have 7 completed and that which needs to be completed as well as any impediments to completing discovery 8 within the deadlines set forth in this order. Counsel SHALL discuss settlement and certify in the joint 9 status report (1) that they have met/conferred regarding settlement, and (2) proposed dates for 10 convening a settlement conference before a U.S. Magistrate Judge if the parties jointly believe a 11 settlement conference would be fruitful. 12 IV. Pre-Trial Motion Schedule 13 All non-dispositive pre-trial motions, including any discovery motions, shall be filed no later 14 than April 30, 20252 and heard on or before June 9, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. Discovery motions shall be 15 set before Judge Baker. For these hearings and at the direction of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, the 16 Court may direct counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom). For hearings noticed to occur in-person, the 17 Court may permit counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom) provided the Courtroom Deputy Clerk 18 receives a written notice of the request to appear remotely no later than five court days before the 19 noticed hearing date. 20 No motion to amend or stipulation to amend the case schedule will be entertained unless it is 21 filed at least one week before the first deadline the parties wish to extend. Likewise, no written 22 discovery motions shall be filed without the prior approval Judge Baker. A party with a discovery 23 dispute must first confer with the opposing party in a good faith effort to resolve by agreement the 24 issues in dispute. If that good faith effort is unsuccessful, the moving party promptly shall seek a 25 hearing with all involved parties and Judge Baker. To schedule this hearing, the parties are ordered to 26

27 2 Non-dispositive motions related to non-expert discovery SHALL be filed within a reasonable time of discovery of the dispute, but in no event later than 30 days after the expiration of the non- 28 expert discovery deadline. 1 contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, Susan Hall, at (661) 326-6620 or via email at 2 SHall@caed.uscourts.gov. At least three days before the conference, counsel SHALL file informal 3 letter briefs detailing their positions. The briefs may not exceed 7 pages, excluding exhibits. Counsel 4 must comply with Local Rule 251 with respect to discovery disputes or the motion will be denied 5 without prejudice and dropped from the Court’s calendar. 6 All dispositive pre-trial motions shall be filed no later than July 17, 2025, and heard no later 7 than August 18, 2025, before Judge Sherriff at 1:30 p.m. In scheduling such motions, counsel shall 8 comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and Local Rules 230 and 260. 9 V. Motions for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication 10 At least 21 days before filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for summary 11 adjudication, the parties are ORDERED to meet, in person or by telephone, to confer about the issues to 12 be raised in the motion. 13 The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment where a 14 question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has merit in whole 15 or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of briefing; 4) narrow the 16 issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement before the parties incur the 17 expense of briefing a motion; and 6) to develop a joint statement of undisputed facts. 18 The moving party SHALL initiate the meeting and SHALL provide a complete, proposed 19 statement of undisputed facts at least five days before the conference. The finalized joint statement of 20 undisputed facts SHALL include all facts that the parties agree, for purposes of the motion, may be 21 deemed true. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 260, the moving party shall file the joint 22 statement of undisputed facts. 23 In the notice of motion, the moving party SHALL certify that the parties have met and 24 conferred as ordered above or set forth a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and confer. 25 Failure to comply may result in the motion being stricken. 26 VI. Pre-Trial Conference Date 27 January 12, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Sherriff. The parties are ordered to file a Joint 28 Pretrial Statement at least 14 days in advance pursuant to Local Rule 281(a)(2). The parties are further 1 directed to submit a digital copy of their pretrial statement in Word format, to Judge Sherriff’s 2 chambers. 3 Counsels’ attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local Rules of Practice for the 4 Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the pre-trial conference. 5 The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. In addition to the matters set forth in the 6 Local Rules the Joint Pretrial Statement shall include a Joint Statement of the case to be used by the 7 Court to explain the nature of the case to the jury during voir dire. 8 VII. Trial Date 9 March 3, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 6 before the Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff. 10 A. This is a jury trial. 11 B. Counsels' Estimate of Trial Time: 7-10 days. 12 C. Counsels' attention is directed to Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of 13 California, Rule 285. 14 VIII. Request for Bifurcation, Appointment of Special Master, or other 15 Techniques to Shorten Trial 16 Not applicable at this time. 17 IX. Related Matters Pending 18 There are no pending related matters. 19 X. Compliance with Federal Procedure 20 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 21 and the Local Rules of Practice of the Eastern District of California, and to keep abreast of any 22 amendments thereto. The Court must insist upon compliance with these Rules if it is to efficiently 23 handle its increasing case load and sanctions will be imposed for failure to follow both the Federal 24 Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of California. 25 XI. Effect of this Order 26 The foregoing order represents the best estimate of the court and counsel as to the agenda most 27 suitable to dispose of this case. The trial date reserved is specifically reserved for this case. If the 28 parties determine at any time that the schedule outlined in this order cannot be met, counsel are ordered 1 || to notify the court immediately of that fact so that adjustments may be made, either by stipulation or | 2 || subsequent status conference. 3 The dates set in this Order are considered to be firm and will not be modified absent a 4 || showing of good cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations 5 || extending the deadlines contained herein will not be considered unless they are accompanied by 6 || affidavits or declarations, and where appropriate attached exhibits, which establish good cause 7 for granting the relief requested. 8 |/IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _ May 20, 2024 | nnd Rr 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28