White v. King County Sheriff's Office

Opinion

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

ROGER WHITE, ) ) No. 23-cv-01761-JHC

Plaintiffs, ) ) STIPULATED MOTION TO STAY

vs. ) DISCOVERY PENDING THE ) OUTCOME OF DEFENDANTS’ KING COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE, ) FRCP 12(c) MOTION TO DISMISS TYLER HUNT in both his official and individual ) AND ORDER TO STAY capacity, ) JEFFREY PETRENCHAK in both his official and ) individual capacity, ) ENRICO DONAGLIA in both his official and ) individual capacity, )

STEVEN MINTERS in both his official and ) individual capacity, and )

MITZI JOHANKNECHT in both her official and ) individual capacity ) ) Defendants. ) )

For good cause shown and pursuant to Federal and Local Rule of Civil Procedure

16(b)(6), and this Court’s broad discretion over discovery matters, Plaintiff Melissa White

and Roger White, and Defendants King County Sheriff’s Office, Tyler Hunt, Jeffrey

Petrenchak, Enrico Donaglia, Steven Minters, and Mitzi Johankencht, (collectively “the

County Defendants”) respectfully and jointly move the Court for entry of an order

staying all discovery deadlines in this matter until a decision has been

issued on the Defendants’ FRCP 12(c) motion to dismiss. (Dkt. 42) For good cause shown and with the Court’s consent, the Court may modify the deadlines in the scheduling order. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4); see also LCR 16(b)(6). Further, this Court has “broad discretion to stay discovery pending the resolution of potentially

dispositive motions.” See Dorian v. Amazon Web Services, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-00269, 2022 WL

3155369, *1 (W.D. Wash Aug. 8, 2022); see also Little v. City of Seattle, 863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th

Cir. 1988); Taylor v. McDonough, Case No. 20-5471 RJB, 2021 WL 9649333 (W.D. Wash.

May 17, 2021).

On August 15, 2024, the parties conferred regarding the status of discovery. The parties have cooperatively exchanged written discovery thus far, and the next step in

discovery will involve depositions and then expert disclosures and reports. Depositions,

and preparation thereof, involve significant time and expense for any party. Similarly,

preparation of expert reports will also require the parties and their experts to expend

significant time and resources. The parties have agreed to respond to outstanding

discovery requests.

The parties also conferred about the efficiency of any further discovery, written or

otherwise, while the motions to dismiss are pending. The parties agree that, rather than

seeking further extensions of the case deadlines, and potentially expending time and

resources on multiple stipulations to continue, a more efficient course of action would be

to file a stipulated motion to stay discovery pending the outcome of the Defendants’

motion to dismiss. Once a decision has been issued, if necessary, the parties will confer and prepare a new case schedule for the Court’s consideration, beginning with the Deadline for Amended Pleadings, as Plaintiff wishes to preserve her ability to amend the pleadings should the need arise.

The parties now jointly move the Court for an order to that effect.

THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

1. All discovery deadlines in this case shall be stayed until the Court issues a decision

on the pending motion to dismiss filed by the County Defendants (Dkt. 42).

2. After the Court has issued a decision on the aforementioned motion to dismiss, if

applicable, the parties shall confer and submit to the Court a stipulated order

lifting the stay and proposing a new case schedule under which discovery will be

completed, beginning with the Deadline for Amended Pleadings.

I hereby certify that this memorandum contains 469 words in compliance with Local Civil

Rules. IT IS SO STIPULATED. DATED this 26th day of August 2024. // //

LEESA MANION (she/her) King County Prosecuting Attorney

By: 4/ Karissa L Taylor By: G/ Melissa White (as per email authorization) KARISSA L. TAYLOR, WSBA #31563 Melissa White, Pro Se Plaintiff Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Melissa White Attorney for Defendant King County 31633 202"4 AVE SE 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600 Kent, WA 98042 Seattle, WA 98104 mlwhite2@protonmail.com Tel: (206) 477-1213/Fax: (206) 296-0191 Email: karissa.taylor@kingcounty.gov ? THIS MATTER having come on regularly for hearing upon the stipulation of the parties above contained, and the Court being fully advised on the premises, now, therefore, it is hereby ORDERED that: 1. All discovery deadlines in this case shall be stayed until the Court issues a decision on the pending motion to dismiss filed by the County Defendants (Dkt. 42). 2. After the Court has issued a decision on the aforementioned motions to dismiss,

if applicable, the parties shall confer and submit to the Court a stipulated order

lifting the stay and proposing a new case schedule under which discovery will be completed, starting with the Plaintiff's deadline to amend pleadings. DATED this 27th day of August, 2024. / ohn. A] . Cbiwr- John H. Chun United States District Judge STIPULATED MOTION TO STAY DISCOVERY PENDING THE OUTCOME OF DEFENDANTS’ FRCP 12(c) MOTION TO DISMISS AND ORDER TO STAY - 4 No. 23-cv-01761-JHC