Santos v. Jones

District Court, W.D. New York·Decided May 6, 2025·No. 6:22-cv-06338·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

BRYAN SANTOS, DECISION AND ORDER Plaintiff, v. 6:22-CV-06338 EAW CDH

SERGEANT D. FILIGHERA, et al.,

Defendants

INTRODUCTION Pro se plaintiff Bryan Santos (“Plaintiff”) was formerly an inmate in the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision . Following screening of his claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(b), he was permitted to proceed to service on claims of sexual assault, excessive force, and deliberate indifference against certain defendants. (Dkt. 37 at 25-26). All other claims were dismissed with prejudice. (Id.). Plaintiff’s sexual assault and excessive force claims relate to an incident on April 28, 2022, at the Collins Correctional Facility (“Collins CF”). (See id. at 7-10, 16). Currently pending before the Court are three motions for sanctions filed by Plaintiff. (Dkt. 102; Dkt. 108; Dkt. 114). Each of Plaintiff’s pending motions for sanctions concerns his claim that Defendants have failed to produce documents and evidence that he has requested. (See Dkt. 102 at 1; Dkt. 108 at 1; Dkt. 114 at 1-2). Defendants have also filed a motion for sanctions. (Dkt. 112). Defendants seeks sanctions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(d)(1)(A)(i), because Plaintiff failed to appear for his noticed deposition. (See Dkt. 112-1).

For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff’s motions for sanctions are denied. Defendants’ motion for sanctions is granted to the extent described below. DISCUSSION I. Plaintiff’s Motions for Sanctions A. Background In his first motion for sanctions, Plaintiff argues that Defendants have not “release[d] . . . all requested documents/evidence[.]” (Dkt. 102 at 1). He provides no

further detail, but asks that “defendant Sergeant D. Filighera . . . be arrested until proper release of all requested documents,” that Defendants’ “paychecks . . . be attached . . . until discovery is completed,” and that Defendants be fined $100,000 per day. (Id.). Plaintiff purports to make this request pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 64. (Id. at 1-2). Defendants filed a response to Plaintiff’s first motion indicating that they did

not know what discovery Plaintiff was referring to and were not aware of any outstanding discovery requests. (Dkt. 103 at 1). Defendants further stated that a USB drive containing all videos from the incident date (i.e., April 28, 2022) had been delivered to Plaintiff in October 2024. (Id.). Plaintiff’s second and third motions for sanctions explain in more detail the items that Plaintiff claims have not been turned over to him. In the second motion for sanctions, he identifies the following items as missing from Defendants’ production: (1) unidentified “Video’s and Audio’s [sic]”; (2) “medical-mental health records”; (3) “OSI Records Regarding the incident”; and (4) “defendant’s record of

work Discipline within the year of 2022.” (Dkt. 108 at 1). Plaintiff again asks for a sanction of $100,000 per day. (Id.). In his third motion, Plaintiff identifies the following items as “Requested and have not recieved [sic]”: (1) “Video’s & Audio’s [sic] of the 3rd Assault that Occurred Inside B2-gallery 48-Cell”; (2) “Video’s & Audio’s [sic] of all Body camera’s [sic] worn as well as All handheld Camera recording”; (3) “‘All’ medical Records”; (4) “‘All’ ((OSI) Office of Special Investigation) Documents Related to their investigation of April 28,

2022”; (5) “‘All’ Mental health records”; and (6) “An exact Amount of times each defendent’s [sic] have been written up & disciplined from the years of 2019-2023.” (Dkt. 114 at 1-2). Plaintiff again requests $100,000 per day in sanctions, as well as a court conference. (Id.). Defendants’ responses to the second and third motions for sanctions address the specific discovery that Plaintiff claims is outstanding. Defendants represent that

14 videos were obtained from Collins CF and OSI. (Dkt. 111 at ¶¶ 5-6). These videos were provided to Plaintiff via a cloud uplink, but Plaintiff indicated that he could not view the videos via the link. (Id. at ¶ 7). Plaintiff was then sent a USB drive containing the videos, but indicated that he could not operate the USB drive. (Id. at ¶ 8). On January 6, 2025, Plaintiff came to defense counsel’s office, and they viewed portions of 13 of the 14 videos, confirming that they had functioning audio and video. (Id. at ¶ 10). The 14th video was not originally functioning, but defense counsel’s technical support staff were able to make it viewable. (Id. at ¶ 11). Defense counsel offered to show the 14th video to Plaintiff at his deposition, which had been noticed

for March 4, 2025, and to make the entire OSI investigation file available for inspection on that same date. (Id. at ¶ 12). As to Plaintiff’s medical records, they were received by defense counsel on February 14, 2025, and produced to Plaintiff on February 19, 2025. (Id. at ¶ 13). Defense counsel has requested Plaintiff’s mental health records from the Central New York Psychiatric Center, but has not yet received a response. (Dkt. 116 at ¶ 10). These documents will be made available to Plaintiff when they are received. (Id.).

Finally, as to Defendants’ disciplinary records, Defendants note that Plaintiff’s sole discovery request was for records of discipline “within the year of 2022.” (Id. at ¶ 11; see Dkt. 108). Plaintiff has been advised that there are no records of any discipline for Defendants within that period. (Dkt. 116 at ¶ 11). B. Analysis As a threshold matter, Plaintiff has previously been advised by the Court that

a motion under Rule 64 is appropriate only if “a reason arises to invoke a state law remedy to secure satisfaction of the potential judgment[.]” (Dkt. 27 at 20). This admonition has been repeated on multiple occasions. (See Dkt. 37 at 23; Dkt. 47). As on the past occasions when he has invoked Rule 64, Plaintiff has not shown that its standard has been satisfied. Rule 64 is not the appropriate vehicle for seeking to compel discovery. Instead, motions to compel discovery are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(3)(B), which provides that “[a] party seeking discovery may move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection.” Rule 37(d)

allows a party to seek sanctions for a failure to comply with discovery obligations. “Motions to compel made pursuant to Rule 37 are ‘entrusted to the sound discretion of the district court.’” Harris v. Bronx Parent Hous. Network, Inc., No. 18-CV-11681 GBDSN, 2020 WL 763740, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 14, 2020) (quoting United States v. Sanders, 211 F.3d 711, 720 (2d Cir. 2000)). Plaintiff has not demonstrated that Defendants have failed to comply with their discovery obligations. Starting with the issue of video and audio recordings,

“[c]ourts cannot order production of a non-existent document.” Woodward v. Holtzman, No. 16-CV-1023A(F), 2018 WL 5112406, at *2 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 18, 2018). “Generally, a party’s good faith averment that the items sought simply do not exist, or are not in his possession, custody, or control, should resolve the issue of failure of production since one cannot be required to produce the impossible.” Mason Tenders Dist. Council of Greater N.Y. v. Phase Constr. Servs., Inc., 318 F.R.D.

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