(PC) Garraway v. Ciufo

District Court, E.D. California·Decided November 20, 2020·No. 1:17-cv-00533·Unknown

Opinion

1 2

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 MITCHELL GARRAWAY, 1:17-cv-00533-DAD-GSA-PC

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS 13 vs. (ECF No. 110.)

14 JACQUILINE CIUFO, et al., ORDER FOR DEFENDANTS TO CONDUCT ANOTHER DOCUMENT 15 Defendants. SEARCH AND FILE NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE WITHIN 30 DAYS 16 17 I. BACKGROUND 18 Plaintiff is a federal prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights 19 action pursuant to Bivens vs. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). This case now 20 proceeds with Plaintiff’s original Complaint filed on April 17, 2017, against defendants 21 Jacqueline Ciufo (Unit Manager), K. Miller (Corrections Officer), and Lieutenant J. Zaragoza 22 (collectively, “Defendants”), for failure to protect Plaintiff in violation of the Eighth Amendment. 23 (ECF No. 1.) 24 On November 27, 2018, the court issued a discovery and scheduling order, setting out 25 deadlines for the parties including a discovery deadline of May 25, 2019, and a dispositive 26 motions deadline of July 27, 2019. (ECF No. 26.) On March 4, 2020, the court extended the 27 discovery deadline to June 5, 2020 and the dispositive motions deadline to August 5, 2020. (ECF 28 No. 97.) The deadlines are now expired. 1 On January 17, 2019, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel production of documents. (ECF 2 No. 35.) On March 16, 2020, the court granted Plaintiff’s motion to compel requiring Defendants 3 to provide supplemental responses to Plaintiff’s request for production, set one, #1-9 and #11. 4 (ECF No. 100.) On June 1, 2020, Defendants filed a response to the court’s order documenting 5 the supplemental responses provided to Plaintiff. (ECF No. 109.) 6 On June 29, 2020, Plaintiff filed a motion for the imposition of sanctions against 7 Defendants for failing to comply with the court’s March 16, 2020 discovery order. (ECF No. 8 110.) On July 21, 2020, Defendants filed an opposition to the motion. (ECF No. 111.) On 9 August 10, 2020, Plaintiff filed a response to the opposition. (ECF No. 113.) 10 Plaintiff’s motion for sanctions is now before the court. Local Rule 230(l). 11 II. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 12 Plaintiff alleges in the Complaint that on March 20, 2016, Officer Ciprian [not a 13 defendant] and Plaintiff informed defendants Miller and Zaragoza that Plaintiff’s cellmate had 14 cut Plaintiff’s nose, and on March 21, 2016, Plaintiff informed defendant Ciufo that the cellmate 15 had cut Plaintiff’s nose. Plaintiff requested to be moved to another cell, but each of the three 16 Defendants denied his request. On April 2, 2016, the same cellmate struck Plaintiff on the left 17 side of his jaw. Plaintiff alleges that all of the Defendants were aware of the cellmate’s long 18 history of serious assaults on other inmates for which the cellmate’s victims required 19 hospitalization. Plaintiff claims that the Defendants failed to protect him from harm in violation 20 of the Eighth Amendment. 21 III. MOTION FOR SANCTIONS 22 A. Legal Standards 23 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern discovery in this civil action. The discovery 24 process is subject to the overriding limitation of good faith, and callous disregard of discovery 25 responsibilities cannot be condoned. Asea, Inc. v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 669 F.2d 1242, 26 1246 (9th Cir. 1981) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Parties may obtain discovery 27 regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense, including the 28 existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any documents or other 1 tangible things and the identity and location of persons who know of any discoverable matter. 2 Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) (quotation marks omitted). For good cause, the court may order 3 discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action. Id. (quotation 4 marks omitted). Relevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears 5 reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Id. (quotation marks 6 omitted). 7 Pursuant to Rule 37(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[i]f a party or a party's 8 officer, director, or managing agent--or a witness designated under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4)-- 9 fails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery, including an order under Rule 26(f), 35, or 10 37(a), the court where the action is pending may issue further just orders,” which may include 11 the following:

12 (i) directing that the matters embraced in the order or other designated facts be taken 13 as established for purposes of the action, as the prevailing party claims;

14 (ii) prohibiting the disobedient party from supporting or opposing designated claims or defenses, or from introducing designated matters in evidence; 15

16 (iii) striking pleadings in whole or in part;

17 (iv) staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed;

18 (v) dismissing the action or proceeding in whole or in part; 19 (vi) rendering a default judgment against the disobedient party; or 20 (vii) treating as contempt of court the failure to obey any order except an order to 21 submit to a physical or mental examination. 22 Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A). 23 A court may sanction a party for failing to obey a discovery order and may treat the failure 24 as contempt of court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(vii). Civil contempt “consists of a party’s 25 disobedience to a specific and definite court order by failure to take all reasonable steps within 26 the party’s power to comply.” In re Dual–Deck Video Cassette Recorder Antitrust Litig., 10 27 F.3d 693, 695 (9th Cir. 1993). “The contempt ‘need not be willful,’ and there is no good faith 28 1 exception to the requirement of obedience to a court order.” Id. (quoting In re Crystal Palace 2 Gambling Hall, Inc., 817 F.2d 1361, 1365 (9th Cir. 1987)). “The party alleging civil contempt 3 must demonstrate that the alleged contemnor violated the court’s order by ‘clear and convincing 4 evidence,’ not merely a preponderance of the evidence.” Id. (quoting Vertex Distrib., Inc. v. 5 Falcon Foam Plastics, Inc., 689 F.2d 885, 889 (9th Cir. 1982)). 6 The Ninth Circuit explained, “Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 authorizes the district 7 court, in its discretion, to impose a wide range of sanctions when a party fails to comply with the 8 rules of discovery or with court orders enforcing those rules.” Wyle v. R. J. Reynolds Indus., 9 Inc., 709 F.2d 857, 589 (9th Cir. 1983) (citing Nat’l Hockey League v. Metro. Hockey Club, Inc., 10 427 U.S. 639, 643 (1976)). The Ninth Circuit has counseled that if lesser sanctions have the 11 potential to remedy any abuse, this is preferable to dispositive sanctions. Rio Properties, Inc. v.

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