Matheis v. CDCR

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 BRIAN THOMAS MATHEIS, Case No.: 3:20-cv-2100-GPC-AHG

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND 13 v. DENYING IN PART EX PARTE MOTION TO TAKE THE 14 C. GODINEZ, et al., DEPOSITIONS OF 15 Defendants. INCARCERATED PERSONS

16 [ECF No. 43] 17 18 This matter comes before the Court on Defendants’ Ex Parte Application to Take 19 the Depositions of Incarcerated Persons. ECF No. 43. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 20 30(a)(2)(B), Defendants seek leave of Court to take depositions of 13 incarcerated persons, 21 all of whom Defendants believe are witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the incidents at 22 issue in this case.1 Plaintiff has identified 8 of the 13 inmates as witnesses to the alleged 23 incidents, while Defendants have identified an additional 5 inmate witnesses. Id. at 3-4. 24 25 1 These witnesses include: James Martin Rose, CDCR No. E92035, Richard J. Donovan 26 Correctional Facility; Anthony Zendejas, CDCR No. AE4128, Richard J. Donovan 27 Correctional Facility; Paul Loyde Hensley, CDCR No. J86000, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility; Jose Arreguin, CDCR No. H86282, Richard J. Donovan Correctional 28 1 The Court has already granted leave to Defendants to take Plaintiff’s deposition 2 (ECF No. 42). Therefore, allowing Defendants to depose the 13 witnesses as requested 3 requires that the Court expand the number of permissible depositions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 30(a)(2)(A)(i) from 10 to 14. 5 Upon due consideration, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART 6 Defendants’ Application (ECF No. 43). The Court GRANTS Defendants permission to 7 depose any of the incarcerated persons identified in their Application as potential witnesses 8 to the alleged incidents at issue within the presumptive 10-deposition limit of the Federal 9 Rules. On reasonable notice to Plaintiff, Defendants may depose such incarcerated persons 10 in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the institution’s rules and 11 regulations, including the presence of correctional officers during the deposition. 12 Additionally, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(4), the Court ORDERS that 13 Defendants may take such depositions by remote means if Defendants so choose. In light 14 of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Court further WAIVES the requirement of Fed. 15 R. Civ. P. 30(c)(1), and will permit the Court Reporter recording the depositions to do so 16 remotely. 17 However, the Court finds Defendants have not established good cause to increase 18 the deposition limit from 10 to 14. See Lloyd v. Valley Forge Life Ins. Co., No. C06-5325 19 FDB, 2007 WL 906150, at *2 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 23, 2007) (“A party seeking to exceed 20 the presumptive number of depositions must make a particularized showing of why the 21 discovery is necessary”); Ocean Garden Prod. Inc. v. Blessings Inc., No. CV-18-00322- 22 23 Albert Sidney Ward, CDCR No. D02841, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility; 24 Perucho Neal, CDCR No. AB8302, California Men’s Colony; Carlos Ramon Roberson, 25 CDCR No. P16623, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility; Larry Michael Pineda, CDCR No. BF5927, Corcoran Correctional Facility; Raymond Davis Miller, CDCR No. 26 BD1461, Salinas Valley State Prison; Rafael Angel Pena, CDCR No. AN5914, Richard J. 27 Donovan Correctional Facility; Joseph Rozell Childs, CDCR No. C94633, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility; and Juan Jose Enriquez, CDCR No. BF7163, Richard J. 28 1 || TUC-RM, 2020 WL 570947, at *2 (D. Ariz. Feb. 5, 2020) (“The party moving to exceed 2 ||the presumptive ten-deposition limit has the burden to demonstrate good cause for doing 3 (quotations and citation omitted). 4 Accordingly, the request to take depositions in excess of the 10-deposition limit is 5 ||DENIED without prejudice. If, after Defendants have taken 10 depositions, they 6 determine that additional witness testimony beyond the limit is necessary for their case, 7 may re-file a motion seeking to exceed the limit and explaining why the discovery is 8 ||necessary. The Court will not entertain such a motion until Defendants have already met 9 || the 10-deposition limit. 11 12 || Dated: July 1, 2021 _ArwioonH. Kovolar Honorable Allison H. Goddard 14 United States Magistrate Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28