Mascorro v. The City of San Diego

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ELOY MASCORRO, Case No.: 21-cv-1427-RSH-DDL

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S EX 13 v. PARTE MOTION TO APPOINT OFFICER OF THE COURT FOR A 14 THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO; DOES 1 – DEPOSITION 6; HOUSE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS; 15 HOUSE OF NORWAY, [Dkt. No. 166] 16 Defendants. 17

18 Before the Court is pro se Plaintiff Eloy Mascorro’s (“Plaintiff”) Ex Parte Motion 19 to Appoint Officer of the Court for a Deposition (“Motion”). Dkt. No. 166. Specifically, 20 Plaintiff “requests that all costs of the court reporter be waived due to plaintiffs [sic] IFP 21 status.” Id. at 2. Furthermore, Plaintiff seeks “the appointment of a court officer to swear 22 in all persons participating in the deposition if the court denies the appointment/cost of the 23 court reporter.” Id. 24 Although Plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, “plaintiff’s 25 indigent status does not entitle him to a waiver of fees” to cover the cost of a deposition 26 officer or court reporter. Goodlow v. Camacho, No. 20-cv-2038-AJB-AGS, 2021 WL 27 3516478, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2021), quoting Owens v. Degazio, No. 2: 16-cv-2750 28 JAM KJN P, 2019 WL 3253934, at *2 (E.D. Cal. July 19, 2019) (“Plaintiff's in forma 1 || pauperis status also does not entitle him to a waiver of any of the costs associated with this 2 || form of deposition; instead, he must pay the necessary deposition officer fee, court reporter 3 || fee, and costs for a transcript.” As explained by the court in Jackson v. Woodford, No. CIV 4 O5CV0513-L NLS, 2007 WL 2580566, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2007), “‘Expenditure of 5 || public funds [on behalf of an indigent litigant] is proper only when authorized by Congress 6 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), Plaintiffs in forma pauperis status entitles him to a 7 || waiver of the filing fee and free service of process by United States Marshals, however, it 8 || does not entitle him to waiver of witness fees, mileage or deposition officer fees.” (citations 9 || omitted). 10 Plaintiffs IFP status does not entitle him to a waiver of fees for a court reporter or 11 officer of the court, nor does it entitle Plaintiff to court-ordered appointment of a court 12 ||reporter or officer of the court. The Motion is DENIED. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 Dated: April 1, 2024 _— 15 Tbe! hh a 16 Hon.DavidD.Leshner SS 17 United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28