Simco-Horvath v. Brewer

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA

DAKOTA SIMCO-HORVATH, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. CIV-21-514-G ) STEVEN BLAKE BREWER et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER Now before the Court are Defendant Steven Blake Brewer’s Unopposed Motion to Stay (Doc. No. 24) and Defendant Brewer’s Unopposed Motion to Stay Deadline for Filing Answer (Doc. No. 25). Defendant Brewer seeks a stay of this action, and specifically his obligation to file a responsive pleading, while related criminal charges against him proceed in Case No. CM-2020-3271 in the District Court of Oklahoma County. Neither Plaintiff nor the other Defendants have objected to this relief. The Court “has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to control its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). Upon review of Defendant Brewer’s submissions, the Court concludes a stay of this matter is appropriate. Specifically, the Court finds that the issues in this case substantially overlap with the issues in Oklahoma County Case No. CM-2020-3271, which is awaiting resolution by jury trial.1 Further, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s interest in the expeditious resolution of his case is

1 The jury trial in that matter is currently set for June 6, 2022. See https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=oklahoma&number=CM- 2020-3271&cmid=3921866 (last visited Mar. 30, 2022). outweighed by the significant interest of Defendant Brewer in avoiding the dilemma of choosing between waiving his Fifth Amendment rights or effectively forfeiting this civil case. Finally, the Court finds that the interests of this Court and the public are served by a stay. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the Unopposed Motion to Stay (Doc. No. 24) and Unopposed Motion to Stay Deadline for Filing Answer (Doc. No. 25). This case is stayed until July 1, 2022, unless the criminal case is finally resolved in the meantime. The parties are directed to file, on or before July 1, 2022, a report as to the status of Oklahoma County Case No. CM-2020-3271. If the state-court criminal proceeding is finally resolved before that date, the parties shall file their status report within seven days of that resolution.” IT IS SO ORDERED this 30th day of March, 2022.

(Barba B. Kadota United States District Judge

In Defendant Brewer’s Motions, he references the request of counsel for Plaintiff to conduct discovery as to the other Defendants. The Court grants the stay irrespective of that request.