Johnson v. Suicide

Opinion

Attorney General SAMUEL L. PEZONE JR. (Bar No. 15978) Deputy Attorney General State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General 555 E. Washington Ave., Ste. 3900 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 (702) 486-4070 (phone) (702) 486-3773 (fax) Email: spezone@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA Case No. 3:22-cv-00285-ART-CSD Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING v. DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO STAY CASE PENDING GLOBAL A. SUICIDE, et al., SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE Defendants. Defendants, Michael Minev, Perry Russell, Joseph Sherry, Candis Rambar, Robert Hartman, Jeffrey Holz, Joel Hightower, Shelly Conlin, John Claudio-Bil, Kyle Olsen, Michael Flamm, Nethanjah Breitenbach-Childers, Brian Williams, Michael Tierney, John Henley, Joseph Kobrick, and Lance White, by and through counsel, Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General, and Samuel L. Pezone Jr., Deputy Attorney General, of the State of Nevada, Office of the Attorney General, hereby move for a stay of this case pending an upcoming global settlement conference in Johnson v. Garofalo, et al., Case No. 3:21-cv- 00239-MMD-CLB. /// /// /// /// On May 26, 2023, this Court entered an order setting September 22, 2023, as the deadline to serve discovery, and October 23, 2023, as the date for completion of discovery. ECF No. 29. On August 21, 2023, this court held a telephonic status conference in Johnson v. Garofalo, et al., Case No. 3:21-cv-00239-MMD-CLB. ECF No. 32. During this conference, Deputy Attorney General Andrew Nelson, Plaintiff Lausteveion Johnson (Johnson) and his counsel agreed to participate in a global settlement conference regarding all of Johnson’s civil cases pending in this court, including this case, Johnson v. Suicide, et al., Case No. 3:22-cv-00285-ART-CSD. See Id. Accordingly, this Court set Thursday October 5, 2023, at 9:00 AM, as the date and time for a global settlement conference. ECF No. 32 at 2. Further, this Court advised the parties to “request or file a stipulation regarding a stay in any case where they find it appropriate.” Id. This request for a stay follows. “A court's power to stay proceedings is incidental to its inherent power to manage its docket.” Stephens v. Comenity, LLC, 287 F.Supp.3d 1091, 1096 (D. Nev. 2017) (citing Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254-55 (1936)). “Proceedings may be stayed ‘pending resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the case.’” Id. at 1096-97 (citing Leyva v. Certified Grocers of California, Ltd., 593 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir. 1979)). “In determining whether a stay is appropriate, a court ‘must weigh competing interests and maintain an even balance.’” Id. at 1097 (citing Landis, 299 U.S. at 254-55); see also Lockyer v. Mirant Corp., 398 F.3d 1098, 1110 (9th Cir. 2005). “These competing interests include: (1) possible damage resulting from granting a stay; (2) hardship or inequity to a party if the proceedings go forward; and (3) simplification or complication of issues, proof and questions of law from a stay.” Id. (citing CMAX, Inc. v. Hall, 300 F.2d 265, 268 (9th Cir. 1962)). Staying this case will further the goal of efficiency for this Court and the parties, as global settlement may result in the prompt resolution of this case. If a global settlement not reached, Johnson may resume the instant case with only a short delay of five weeks. Discovery is ongoing and is due to be completed on October 5, 2023. ECF No. 29. Without stay, all parties may incur the expense of responding to additional discovery, which discovery may ultimately prove fruitless if this case is resolved at the global settlement conference. Furthermore, the settlement conference may help to simplify the issues to be resolved in this litigation. Even if this case is not resolved, a settlement conference may allow the parties to eliminate some factual disputes in this case, which will make for more efficient discovery and narrower dispositive motions. IV. CONCLUSION This Court should grant a stay of these proceedings pending the upcoming global settlement conference on Thursday October 5, 2023, at 9:00 AM. Defendants request a stay of this case until no later than October 19, 2023, by which date the parties shall inform the court of the results of the global settlement conference. DATED this 28th day of August, 2023. Attorney General By: /s/ Samuel L. Pezone Jr. SAMUEL L. PEZONE JR. (Bar No. 15978) 99 Deputy Attorney General

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