Botts v. Sheppard

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8 - UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 .

11 || D?RON BOTTS, Case No.: 3:19-cv-01387-DMS-RBM 12 Plaintitt, ORDER GRANTING JOINT || v. MOTION TO EXTEND EXPERT || CORRECTIONAL OFFICER MOTION DEADLINES 15 SHEPPARD, et al., .

16 Defendants. .

7 [Doc. 41] 18 .

19 _ Before the Court is Plaintiff D’Ron Botts (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants J. Newman, ||C. Legge, R. Rodriguez, F. Camacho, A. Shepherd, and D. Paramo’s (collectively “Defendants”) Joint Motion to Extend Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motion Deadlines ||(“Joint Motion”). (Doc. 41.) The parties seek a three-week continuance of the expert ||discovery deadlines and the pretrial motions cutoff. (Ud. at 2.) The parties allege an |lextension is necessary as COVID-19 and hospitalizations have delayed the original || discovery deadlines. (/d.) Moreover, Plaintiff ‘needs more time to complete expert || discovery and alleges an extension will cause no prejudice. (/d. at 2-3.)

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This is the parties’ sixth request to continue scheduling order dates. (Docs. 28, 31, ||35, 37, 39, 41.) However, the undersigned notes that the primary. reasons for the multiple || continuances resulted from COVID-19 and Plaintiff's hospitalization. (Doc. 41 at 2.) The || Court’s August 25, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set a pretrial conference on August 20, 2021, with trial to begin on September 20, 2021. (Doc. 36 at 5.) The Court’s || December 28, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set the expert discovery cutoff on || April 23, 2021, and the pretrial motions deadline on May 21, 2021. (Doc. 40 at 3.)

8 A scheduling order may be modified only upon a showing of good cause and with _ 9 || the judge’s consent. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4); see, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 10 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (stating, “the focus of [the good cause] inquiry is || upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification.”).

12 Here, the Court finds good cause to grant a continuance of the expert discovery and pretrial motion deadlines. Additionally, the Court sua sponte continues the pretrial || conference and trial dates.

15 Accordingly, the Joint Motion is GRANTED: 16 l. All expert-discovery shall be completed by all parties by May 14, 2021. The || parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact ||discovery.

19 || 2. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 20 result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 21 introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence.

22 3. All other pretrial motions must be filed by June 11, 2021. Counsel for the || moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will ||hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and the || hearing date may vary from one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure ||to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. || Motions in Limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules or as otherwise set by the || district judge. , 1 4. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable ||Dana M. Sabraw on October 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to start on || November 15, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.

4 5. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause || shown.

6 . 6. All other dates in the Court’s August 25,2020, and December 28, 2020 orders ||(Docs. 36 and 40) remain unchanged.

8 7. Plaintiffs counsel shall serve a copy of this order on all parties that enter this || case hereafter. .

10 IT IS SO ORDERED.

11 || DATE: April 15, 2021 12 .

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