Huthnance v. District of Columbia

255 F.R.D. 285, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101059, 2008 WL 5220565
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided December 15, 2008·No. Civil Action No. 06-1871 (HHK/JMF)·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN M. FACCIOLA, United States Magistrate Judge.

This case is before me for resolution of certain discovery motions. Currently pending and ready for resolution are plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery [# 43] and Defendant District of Columbia’s Motion for Protective Order (“Defs. Mot.”) [# 47]. For the reasons stated herein, plaintiffs motion will be granted in part and denied in part and defendant’s motion will be granted.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Lindsay Huthnance, a resident of the District of Columbia, claims that on November 15th and 16th, 2005, she was illegally arrested and detained by Officer L. Acebal, Officer J. Antonio, and Officer J. Morales, all with the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”). Amended Complaint (“Amend. Compl.”) at page 2. According to plaintiff, the arrest occurred outside a 7-11 convenience store located at 3146 Mount Pleasant Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. at approximately 12:00 a.m. Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 9, 16. Plaintiff is suing the three MPD officers for 1) False Arrest, 2) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, 3) Assault and Battery, 4) Negligence Per Se, 5) Violation of First Amendment Rights, 6) Violation of Fourth Amendment Rights, 7) Violation of Fifth Amendment Rights, and 8) Violation of Eighth Amendment Rights. Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 47-85. Plaintiff is suing the District of Columbia (“the District”) for 1) False Arrest, 2) Violation of First Amendment Rights, 3) Violation of Fourth Amendment Rights, 4) Violation of Fifth Amendment Rights, and 5) Violation of Eighth Amendment Rights. Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 86-111.

Plaintiffs theory of the case is that MPD has a pattern and practice of abusing its power to arrest citizens for disorderly conduct and that MPD officers can ensure that their improper arrests escape any further scrutiny by offering the person arrested the option of posting collateral. If the person forfeits the posted collateral, the matter is then completed without further adjudication. This would be in contrast to the person being arrested and being taken before a judge or being give a citation with a date to appear before a judge. See Plaintiffs Opposition to the District’s June 11 Motion for a Protective Order (“Plains. Opp.”) at 11-13.

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[p]arties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Although it need not be admissible in itself, the information sought must be, at a minimum, “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Id. “ ‘The scope of discovery is within the sound discretion of the trial court,’ and a ‘ruling by the trial court limiting or denying discovery will not be cause for reversal unless an abuse of discretion is shown.’ ” Sorrell v. District of Columbia, 252 F.R.D. 37, 38 (D.D.C.2008) (quoting Chrysler Corp. v. Fedders, Corp., 643 F.2d 1229, 1240 (6th Cir.1981)).

Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Discovery

I. Plaintiffs Requests for Production

A. No. 2: All Documents referring or relating to the arrest and detention of Plaintiff (and any encounter that preceded it) on November 15th and 16th, 2005, including, without limitation, any police reports, witness statements, log entries, video recordings, post and forfeit paperwork, and all radio communications / transmissions relating to Plaintiffs arrest, detention, and transportation and identifying all MPD personnel on the scene of Plaintiffs arrest, detention and transportation (and any encounter that preceded it) and returning to service thereafter.

[287]*287Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery (“Plains. Mem.”) at 15.

According to plaintiff, the only remaining issue with regard to this request is the District’s failure to produce the specified radio communications. Plaintiffs Reply in Support of Her Motion to Compel Discovery (“Plains. Reply”) at 2. According to plaintiff, the District’s own radio logs indicate that there was in fact at least one radio communication made and logged. Id. at 3. Plaintiff also argues that it is “the practice of MPD officers to conduct records checks by radio, and to call for transport by radio,” and therefore the District’s failure to produce such records raises issues of spoliation. Id.

Attached to plaintiffs reply at Exhibit B is a copy of the radio log for the night in question. Although the District claims that “there are no radio communications related to plaintiffs arrest,” it provided plaintiff with the radio log and then conceded that the log does reference a communication related to plaintiffs arrest. Defendant District of Columbia’s Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Compel (“Defs. Opp.”) at 5. The question, therefore, as plaintiff rightly notes, is why the District is unable to produce the actual communication. To that end, plaintiff seeks the District’s document retention policies. See Request for Production Number 18.1

Materials that detail the District’s document retention policies are relevant in that they may show whether the MPD radio communications were maintained according to standard procedure. See Doe v. District of Columbia, 230 F.R.D. 47, 56 (D.D.C.2005) (“Rule 26(b)(1) may be construed to allow for discovery of document production policies and procedures in allowing ‘[pjarties [to] obtain discovery regarding any matter ... including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any ... documents.’”). The District will therefore produce these documents.

B. No. 3: All Documents identifying MPD officers working in PSA 301 on November 15th and 16th, 2005 (3-11 shift 11/15; midnight shift 11/15-16; day shift 11/16), and any other MPD officers on special assignments, details, initiatives, or shifts that involved deployment within or around PSA 301 on those dates, including but not limited to any log books entries, rosters, roll call attendance sheets, time and attendance records for the Third District Station and Substations, and any dispatcher records.
Plains. Mem. at 16.

Plaintiff contends that she has received an incomplete set of documents. Specifically, plaintiff claims that while she received the computer-printed roll call sheets for the 0600-1430 shift for November 15, 2005 and the handwritten log-book pages for the 2200-0630 shift for November 16, 2005, she actually sought both types of records for the entire time period in question. Plaintiffs Reply in Support of Her Motion to Compel Discovery (“Plains. Reply”) at 4.

Initially, the District did not object to this request but only stated that it had no responsive information but that it would produce what it had when it became available. Plains. Mem. at 16. Its claim, made for the first time in its objection to plaintiffs motion to compel, that the request is overly broad, seems to have been waived. Peskoff v. Faber, 244 F.R.D.

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Huthnance v. District of Columbia, 255 F.R.D. 285, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101059, 2008 WL 5220565 (D.D.C. 2008).

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