(PS) Schmitz v. Asman

District Court, E.D. California·Decided November 19, 2021·No. 2:20-cv-00195·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 THOMAS SCHMITZ, et al., No. 2:20-cv-00195-JAM-CKD PS 12 Plaintiffs, 13 v. FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 14 A. ASMAN, et al., (ECF No. 165) 15 Defendants. 16 17 Presently before the court is plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration of the court’s order 18 denying reconsideration of its original order that dismissed with prejudice plaintiffs’ 19 constitutional claims against defendants Adam Asman and Erik Bradley.1 (ECF No. 165.) The 20 motion is fully briefed and was taken under submission without oral argument. (ECF Nos. 165- 21 169.) For the following reasons, the court recommends DENYING plaintiffs’ motion. 22 BACKGROUND 23 On April 14, 2021, plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to further amend their complaint to 24 reassert their previously dismissed-with-prejudice constitutional claims of deliberate indifference 25 and deprivation of familial relations, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against defendants Asman and 26 Bradley. (ECF No. 145.) Asman and Bradley were the floor officers on duty on January 21, 27 1 Plaintiffs are representing themselves in this action. All pretrial matters are referred to the 28 undersigned in accordance with Local Rule 302(c)(21) and 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). 1 2019, the day that plaintiffs’ son, William, died in custody at CDCR’s Mule Creek State Prison. 2 Plaintiffs’ two-part motion was based on a proffer of newly discovered evidence which they 3 argued supported stronger allegations to sufficiently state their constitutional claims. Briefing on 4 the motion concluded on May 19, 2021, and the undersigned issued findings and 5 recommendations on August 3, 2021. (ECF No. 156.) The undersigned recommended granting 6 leave to amend in general but denying leave to reassert the previously dismissed § 1983 claims 7 against Asman and Bradley because reconsideration of the earlier dismissal order was not 8 warranted. (Id. at 12, 21, 36.) Plaintiffs filed objections on August 17, 2021, to which defendant 9 Bradley replied. (ECF Nos. 158, 160.) The District Judge issued an order on September 24, 10 2021, adopting the findings and recommendations in full. (ECF No. 161.) The parties 11 subsequently stipulated that plaintiffs’ Fourth Amended Complaint (“4AC”) would be due by 12 December 14, 2021. (ECF Nos. 162, 163.) 13 On October 20, 2021, plaintiffs filed the instant motion under Federal Rule of Civil 14 Procedure 54(b), seeking revision of the court’s September 24th order so that they might be 15 permitted to reassert in the 4AC the dismissed § 1983 claims against Asman and Bradley, based 16 on the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Gordon v. Cty. of Orange, 6 F.4th 961 (9th Cir. 2021) 17 (Gordon II), which issued on July 26, 2021. (ECF No. 165.) Defendants Asman and Bradley 18 filed oppositions, to which plaintiffs replied. (ECF Nos. 166, 167, 169.) 19 DISCUSSION 20 A. Legal Standard 21 Rule 54(b) governs requests like this one for reconsideration of the court’s interlocutory 22 orders. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b) (stating that interlocutory orders “may be revised at any time 23 before the entry of a judgment”). So long as the court still has jurisdiction over a case and a final 24 judgment has not been entered, the court has both inherent power and authority under Rule 54(b) 25 to modify or reconsider its interlocutory orders. See City of Los Angeles, Harbor Div. v. Santa 26 Monica Baykeeper, 254 F.3d 882, 886-87 (9th Cir. 2001); Jadwin v. Cty. of Kern, No. 07-cv- 27 0026-OWW-DLB, 2010 WL 1267264, at *9 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2010). Rule 54(b) does not 28 address the standards which a court should apply when assessing a motion to revise an 1 interlocutory order, and the Ninth Circuit has not provided a governing standard; however, courts 2 in this district look to the standards for reconsideration under Rule 59(e) (motion to alter or 3 amend a judgment) and Rule 60(b) (relief from judgment) for guidance. Doutherd v. 4 Montesdeoca, No. 2:17-CV-02225-KJM-JDP, 2021 WL 1784917, at *2 (E.D. Cal. May 5, 2021); 5 Jadwin, 2010 WL 1267264, at *9. “[A] motion for reconsideration should not be granted, absent 6 highly unusual circumstances, unless the district court is presented with newly discovered 7 evidence, committed clear error, or if there is an intervening change in the controlling law.”2 8 Kona Enterprises, Inc. v. Est. of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890 (9th Cir. 2000). 9 While the Rule 59 and 60 standards for modifying a final judgment provide guidance, “[a] 10 district court may reconsider and revise a previous interlocutory decision for any reason it deems 11 sufficient, even in the absence of new evidence or an intervening change in or clarification of 12 controlling law.” Hydranautics v. FilmTec Corp., 306 F. Supp. 2d 958, 968 (S.D. Cal. 2003) 13 (emphasis added); see also Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 817 (1988) 14 (“A court has the power to revisit prior decisions of its own or of a coordinate court in any 15 circumstance.”). And some courts apply a less rigid standard for motions to revise interlocutory 16 orders under Rule 54(b) than to motions to reconsider final judgments under Rule 60(b). See, 17 e.g., Persistence Software, Inc. v. Object People, Inc., 200 F.R.D. 626, 627 (N.D. Cal. 2001) 18 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) Advisory Committee Notes).3 As a general rule, though, “a court 19 should generally leave a previous decision undisturbed absent a showing that it either represented 20 clear error or would work a manifest injustice.” Id. (citing Christianson, 486 U.S. at 817 (1988)); 21 Lyons v. Baughman, No. CIV. S-01-412-LKK/KJM P, 2007 WL 1378022, at *3 (E.D. Cal. 22

23 2 This court’s local rules also govern applications for reconsideration and require the moving party to provide “what new or different facts or circumstances are claimed to exist which did not 24 exist or were not shown upon such prior motion” or “what other grounds exist for the motion” and “why the facts or circumstances were not shown at the time of the prior motion.” E.D. Cal. 25 L.R. 230(j).

26 3 See Doctor John’s, Inc. v. City of Sioux City, IA, 456 F. Supp. 2d 1074, 1076 (N.D. Iowa 2006) 27 (“While the standards for reconsideration of interlocutory orders may be less ‘exacting’ than the standards for reconsideration of final orders under Rules 59(e) and 60(b), . . . the court should 28 ‘look to the kinds of consideration under those rules for guidance.’”) (internal citations omitted). 1 May 10, 2007) (“[B]ecause a previous decision constitutes the law of the case, a court should 2 generally not upset one of its previous decisions absent a showing that it either represented clear 3 error or would work a manifest injustice.”). 4 B. Analysis 5 Plaintiffs offer a single basis for modifying the court’s order denying reconsideration: that 6 the recent Gordon II decision set a new precedent that “inadequate safety checks are a violation of 7 pre-trial detainees’ constitutional rights.” (ECF No.

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