John Paul McCullum v. Mashal Turner, et al.
This text of John Paul McCullum v. Mashal Turner, et al. (John Paul McCullum v. Mashal Turner, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI NORTHERN DIVISION
JOHN PAUL MCCULLUM PLAINTIFF
V. CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:22-CV-107-CWR-ASH
MASHAL TURNER, ET AL. DEFENDANT
ORDER This matter is before the Court sua sponte regarding Defendants’ “Notice to Take Deposition of John Paul McCullum.” Notice [164]. Defendants filed this notice October 23, 2025 and in it stated their intent to depose Plaintiff John Paul McCullum on November 4, 2025. Plaintiff McCullum is incarcerated at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville, Mississippi. Because Plaintiff is a prisoner, Defendants are required to “obtain leave of court” before deposing him. Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(B). As Defendants have not obtained leave to depose Plaintiff McCullum, their notice is struck. Defendants must comply with Rule 30(a)(2)(B) even though McCullum is the Plaintiff. See Ashby v. McKenna, 331 F.3d 1148, 1150 (10th Cir. 2003) (holding there is no exception to Rule 30(a)(2)(B) for a prisoner plaintiff); Williams ex rel. Williams v. Greenlee, 210 F.R.D. 577, 578–79 (N.D. Tex. 2002) (applying Rule 30(a)(2)(B) to a plaintiff confined in a youth detention facility). Compliance with the rule is no mere formality. If McCullum “were to make an issue of the defendant[s’] Rule 30(a) violation” or “decline to answer questions, this Court would be hard pressed to grant a . . . defense motion to compel.” Miller v. Bluff, 131 F.R.D. 698, 700 (M.D. Pa. 1990); see also Ashby, 331 F.3d at 1150 (holding prisoner “was within his rights under Rule 30(a) in refusing to be deposed without court order” and that “[h]is refusal cannot serve as a basis for sanction”). This Order striking the notice is without prejudice to Defendants seeking leave in accordance with Rule 30(a)(2)(B). SO ORDERED AND ADJUDGED this the 24th day of October, 2025.
s/Andrew S. Harris UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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