Olmos v. Ryan

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided April 17, 2020·No. 2:17-cv-03665·Unknown

Opinion

DISTRICT OF ARIZONA Timothy Paul Olmos, Plaintiff CV-17-3665-PHX-GMS (JFM) -vs- Charles L. Ryan, et al., Defendants. Order Under consideration is Plaintiff's Motion to Compel filed September 23, 2019 (Doc. 120), supported by his Memo in Support (Doc. 121). Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 36(a)(6) and 37(a)(3)(B) and Local Rule of Civil Procedure 27.1(a), Plaintiff seeks an order determining the sufficiency of Defendants’ responses to requests for admission and compelling responses to Plaintiffs’ various discovery requests. (Plaintiff makes widespread references back to earlier motions and exhibits, including his Motion to Modify Scheduling Order (Doc. 64), Motion for an Order to Show Cause (Doc. 75), and Motion to Modify Scheduling Order (Doc. 82).) Defendants have responded (Doc. 137) arguing that the responses were appropriate, Plaintiff’ objections are irrelevant, and the requests are disproportional to the needs of the case given the amount in controversy and the burden vs. benefit of the requests. Plaintiff did not timely reply, and the request for an extension has been denied. (See Order 3/13/20, Doc. 159 (denying extension); Order 4/9/20, Doc. 167 (affirming order).) A. BACKGROUND Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (Doc. 18) on April 20, 2018. Counts One, Three, Four, Five, and Six of Plaintiff’s FAC were dismissed without Charles Ryan, former director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, is the sole remaining defendant. In Count Two, Plaintiff claims his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights were violated because he has never been paid interest earned on his prison trust account. Plaintiff claims there “is no pre- or post-deprivation remedy under state law applicable to Ryan’s taking, no hearings are provided, no appeal process is available, no dispute process is applicable, and no other meaningful process is available to challenge A.R.S. § 41-1604.03(B)(2) and that collection of the interest violates his due process rights. In Count Seven, Plaintiff claims his Eighth Amendment rights are violated because Defendant Ryan only provides hygiene supplies to inmates whose spendable trust account balances are less than $12.00 per month. Plaintiff claims this creates financial hardships for him and that he must choose between purchasing hygiene items or purchasing legal materials. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that he is unable to afford to regularly replace his toothbrush or purchase shaving cream, razors, shampoo, and deodorant. In the meantime, on or about August 19, 2019, Plaintiff was released from the Arizona State Prison. (Notice of Change of Address, Doc. 104.) Defendant does not argue with the basic facts alleged by Plaintiff. On Count Two, Defendant asserts that the prison system’s expenses on Plaintiff exceed the interest he would earn from his Inmate Trust Account, precluding a finding of a taking. As to Count Seven, Defendant contends that Plaintiff could afford the necessary hygiene items, and thus cannot prove any violations of the Eighth Amendment. Important to the discussion on discovery relating to Count Two is the amount at issue. Defendant points to the applicable two year statute of limitations and argues: “For the two years prior to his Complaint, the interest on Mr. Olmos’s inmate trust account will not exceed $20, and will more than likely not exceed $10.” The Court has nothing before it to conclude otherwise. Discovery Requests – Plaintiff has served on Defendant two sets of interrogatories and a set of requests for admissions (RFA). Plaintiff challenges the responses to: (a) RFA numbers 1 and 4 thru 6 OR 7????, (b) 1stINT number 1, 2(a), 2(b)(iv), 2(b)(vi)-(x), 3, and 5; (c) 1stRFP numbers 1-3, 5, and 6; (d) 2ndRFP numbers 1 and 2; (e) 3rdRFP numbers 2 and 3; (f) all of 4thRFP; (g) all of 2ndINT. Defendants have generally responded to these requests, albeit often with objections. B. APPLICABLE LAW “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties' relative access to relevant information, the parties' resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit..” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) (emphasis added). “The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure strongly favor full discovery whenever possible.” Farnsworth v. Procter & Gamble Co., 758 F.2d 1545, 1547 (11th Cir.1985). “The party who resists discovery has the burden to show that discovery should not be allowed, and has the burden of clarifying, explaining, and supporting its objections.” DIRECTV, Inc. v. Trone, 209 F.R.D. 455, 458 (C.D.Cal.,2002). To avoid discovery, a party must assert their specific objections in response to the request, and argue them in response to a motion to compel. “It is well established that a failure to object to discovery requests within the time required constitutes a waiver of any objection.” Richmark Corp. v. Timber Falling Consultants, 959 F.2d 1468, 1473 (9th Cir. 1992). Similarly, in evaluating a motion to compel, the Court does not rely on objections Co. v. Seaboard Corp., 189 F.R.D. 655, 662 (D. Kan. 1999) (“When ruling upon a motion to compel, the court generally considers those objections which have been timely asserted and relied upon in response to the motion. It generally deems objections initially raised but not relied upon in response to the motion as abandoned.”). C. APPLICATION TO DISCOVERY 1. INTERROGATORIES a. 1stINT-1 First interrogatory 1 asked: Monthly totals for the following categories of information, beginning from the month that the ADC indigent program was implemented to present: a. Total ADC prisoner population (i.e., state-run and contract beds facilities); and b. Number of indigents. Defendant responded:

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