Gates v. Briones et al, No. 2:2020cv00536 - Document 40 (W.D. Wash. 2020)
Court Description: ORDER denying and striking Plaintiff's 22 Motion for Submitting of Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury; 26 and 38 Motions for Subpoenas. The Clerk is directed to issue five subpoenas, in blank, and send them to Plaintiff at his address of record. Signed by Hon. Michelle L. Peterson. (MW) (cc: Plaintiff with 5 blank subpoenas via USPS on 8/6/2020)
Download PDF
<![CDATA[
Gates v. Briones et al Doc. 40 Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 6 7 8 BRANDON T. GATES, 10 11 12 Case No. C20-536-RAJ-MLP Plaintiff, 9 ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS v. JOSE BRIONES, et al., Defendants. 13 14 15 I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff, a pretrial detainee at the Island County Jail, brings this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action 16 pro se. Currently pending before the Court are Plaintiff’s: (1) “Motion for Submitting of 17 Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury” (dkt. # 22); (2) Motion for Discovery (dkt. 18 # 26); and (3) Motion for Subpoenas (dkt. # 38) (“Plaintiff’s Motions”). Defendants did not file 19 an opposition to Plaintiff’s Motions. For the reasons explained below, Plaintiff’s Motions 20 (dkt. ## 22, 26, 38) are DENIED and STRICKEN. 21 II. BACKGROUND 22 On April 24, 2020, Plaintiff filed his § 1983 complaint in this matter alleging that 23 Defendants violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. (Pl.’s Compl. (Dkt. ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 2 of 6 1 # 6) at 4-8.) Under his first count, Plaintiff alleges that between March 10, 2020, and March 17, 2 2020, Plaintiff was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment by 3 Island County Corrections Chief Jail Administrator Jose Briones after various inmates threw 4 urine into his cell and Defendants failed to intervene. (Id. at 4-5.) Under his second count, 5 Plaintiff alleges that his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection was violated by 6 Defendant Briones because prison officials failed to move him to a new cell after inmates threw 7 urine into his cell. (Id. at 6-7.) Finally, Plaintiff alleges that Island County Corrections Lieutenant 8 William Becker violated his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by denying him access to 9 store items that included sugar, which Plaintiff sought to help correct low blood sugar issues 10 11 arising as a complication of managing his diabetes. (Id. at 7-8.) Plaintiff additionally has filed two other pending § 1983 actions involving both 12 Defendants in this Court. On June 12, 2020, Plaintiff filed a § 1983 complaint in Gates v. Becker, 13 et al., Cause No. C20-611-JCC-MAT (dkt. # 6), alleging that Defendant Becker interfered with 14 Plaintiff’s access to the courts by opening his legal mail outside of his presence and by not 15 providing him a copy of his prison account balance. Id. at 4-8. On July 6, 2020, Plaintiff filed a 16 motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in Gates v. Briones, et al., Cause No. 17 C20-895-JCC-MAT (dkt. # 4). Plaintiff’s attached § 1983 complaint in that matter raises claims 18 alleging that Defendants Briones and Becker violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free 19 from cruel and unusual punishment by placing him in administrative segregation and that 20 Defendant Becker is denying him access to the courts because the Island County Jail does not 21 have a law library and because Defendant Becker failed give him his account balance. Id. (dkt. 22 # 4-1 at 4-6.) 23 ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 2 Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 3 of 6 1 In Plaintiff’s “Motion for Submitting of Additional Evidence and Further Claim of 2 Injury,” Plaintiff seeks to introduce various exhibit evidence concerning his incarceration in 3 Island County into the record. (Dkt. # 22 at 1-3, 7-11.) This evidence includes: (1) copies of 4 records and grievance forms related to Plaintiff’s legal mail (Exs. 1-2, 26-27); (2) copies of 5 grievance forms and correspondence related to Plaintiff being denied store items due to his 6 diabetic diet restrictions (Exs. 3, 10-14); (3) copies of correspondence and grievance forms 7 related to Plaintiff’s claims regarding urine being thrown in his cell (Exs. 4-5,7-8); (4) copies of 8 correspondence and grievance forms related to Plaintiff’s being placed in administrative 9 segregation (Exs. 6, 9); and (5) copies of correspondence and grievance forms related to being 10 denied a copy of his prison account balance and his access to the courts (Exs. 15-24). (Dkt. # 22 11 at 6-47.) Plaintiff additionally submitted a letter, addressed to this Court, making several 12 allegations involving various court officials and law enforcement involved in his case. (Id. at 48- 13 50.) 14 Plaintiff’s Motion for Discovery and Motion for Subpoenas both seek to have the Court 15 issue Plaintiff subpoenas that he intends to submit as discovery requests to Defendants. (Dkt. 16 ## 26, 38.) In his Motion for Subpoenas, Plaintiff notes that he intends to request electronically 17 stored information allegedly in possession of the Defendants concerning his placement in 18 administrative segregation and to rebut Defendants’ qualified immunity defense recently 19 submitted in Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (dkt. # 33) (“Defendants’ Motion”). 20 (Dkt. # 38 at 1-2.) Plaintiff also seeks subpoenas to request offender kites related to a newly 21 asserted access to the courts claim. (Id. at 2.) 22 23 ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 3 Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 4 of 6 1 III. DISCUSSION 2 A. 3 Plaintiff’s “Motion for Submitting of Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury,” Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury 4 submits to the Court several documents containing factual allegations, claims, and/or exhibits 5 partially in support of Plaintiff’s claims in this matter. (Dkt. # 22, Exs. 3-5, 7-8, 10-14.) 6 However, a large portion of the evidence submitted by Plaintiff supports claims he did not assert 7 in this matter— and instead, relate to claims asserted in his other § 1983 complaints—regarding 8 Defendants’ alleged interference with his legal mail, access to courts, and being placed in 9 administrative segregation. (Dkt. # 22, Ex. 1-2, 6-9, 15-24, 26-27.) 10 Plaintiff’s attempt to submit additional evidence in this matter is improper. Evidence may 11 not be randomly submitted to the Court; there must be some context for consideration of the 12 proffered evidence. Typically, evidence is submitted to the Court in support of, or in opposition 13 to, a pending motion. If Plaintiff wishes to add factual allegations to his complaint, he should 14 seek leave of court to file an amended complaint, together with a proposed amended pleading, 15 pursuant to Local Civil Rule 15. Alternatively, if Plaintiff desires to put the evidence in front of 16 the Court due to Defendants’ Motion, Plaintiff should submit the evidence with his response to 17 Defendants’ Motion. Furthermore, any evidence, exhibits, or arguments pertaining to claims 18 brought in Plaintiff’s other § 1983 actions are not relevant here and must be submitted in the 19 actions to which they specifically pertain as Plaintiff will not be permitted to litigate the same 20 claims across multiple cases. 21 The evidence submitted by Plaintiff is not properly before the Court. Therefore, 22 Plaintiff’s “Motion for Submitting of Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury” is 23 stricken. ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 4 Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 5 of 6 1 B. Motion for Discovery and Motion for Subpoenas 2 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(a)(3) requires that, upon a party’s request, “[t]he clerk 3 must issue a subpoena, signed but otherwise in blank, to a party who requests it. See Trueblood 4 v. Cappola, 2020 WL 4059523, at *1 (W.D. Wash. July 20, 2020). Pursuant to Federal Rule of 5 Civil Procedure 45(a)(1)(D), a subpoena may direct a non-party to an action to produce 6 documents for inspection. However, a party’s reliance on a subpoena is limited by the relevance 7 standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) and by the court’s duty under 8 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(1) to ensure that a subpoena does not impose “undue 9 burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena.” 10 Here, as leave of court is not required for plaintiff to obtain a subpoena pursuant to 11 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(a)(3), that portion of plaintiff’s motion is stricken as 12 unnecessary. The clerk will issue Plaintiff the requested subpoenas, though the subpoenas will be 13 issued in blank and it will be plaintiff’s responsibility to complete the subpoenas. However, it 14 appears Plaintiff aims to use subpoenas to request discovery information from Defendants. Rule 15 45 is not the proper discovery tool to obtain information from a party. Plaintiff should make his 16 requested discovery through the appropriate discovery methods outlined in the Federal Rules of 17 Civil Procedure regarding any evidence sought within the possession, custody, or control of 18 Defendants. 19 20 21 22 Accordingly, the Court, having reviewed Plaintiff’s Motions, and the balance of the record, hereby ORDERS: (1) Plaintiff’s “Motion for Submitting of Additional Evidence and Further Claim of Injury” (dkt. # 22) is DENIED and STRICKEN; 23 ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 5 Case 2:20-cv-00536-RAJ-MLP Document 40 Filed 08/03/20 Page 6 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 (2) Plaintiff’s Motion for Discovery (dkt. # 26) and Motion for Subpoenas (dkt. # 38) are DENIED and STRICKEN; (3) The Clerk is directed to issue five subpoenas, in blank, and send them to Plaintiff at his address of record. The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to the parties and to the Honorable Richard A. Jones. 7 8 Dated this 3rd day of August, 2020. A 9 10 MICHELLE L. PETERSON United States Magistrate Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY AND EVIDENCE MOTIONS - 6
]]>
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You
should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
