(PC) Alexander v. Solano County Detention Facility, et al., No. 2:2013cv02566 - Document 55 (E.D. Cal. 2015)

Court Description: ORDER signed by Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr on 7/2/15 ADOPTING IN FULL 52 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS; DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO RENEWAL 22 Motion for Summary Judgment. Good cause appearing, the assigned magistrate judge is directed to set a further discovery and dispositive motion schedule in this action. (Meuleman, A)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMES S. ALEXANDER, 12 Plaintiff, 13 14 15 16 v. No. 2:13-cv-2566 GEB CKD P ORDER SOLANO COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY, et al., Defendants. 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has filed this civil rights action seeking relief 18 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The matter was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 19 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302. 20 On June 3, 2015, the magistrate judge filed findings and recommendations herein which 21 were served on all parties and which contained notice to all parties that any objections to the 22 findings and recommendations were to be filed within fourteen days. Defendant Connors has 23 filed objections to the findings and recommendations. 24 In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Local Rule 304, this 25 court has conducted a de novo review of this case. In brief: In his motion for summary judgment, 26 defendant Connors relied on deemed admissions by plaintiff, including ultimate-issue admissions 27 that (1) plaintiff had no facts to support his claim and (2) defendant did not use excessive force. 28 1 1 (See ECF No. 48 at 6.) Although plaintiff did not show good cause for failing to respond to 2 defendant’s RFAs, the magistrate judge allowed him to withdraw his deemed admissions and, 3 based on the resulting factual dispute, recommended that summary judgment for defendant be 4 denied. (ECF No. 52.) 5 In his objections, defendant argues that he was entitled to rely on the deemed admissions, 6 and in such reliance, “made the prudent choice not to pursue further discovery or file a motion to 7 compel responses” to his other discovery requests, all of which plaintiff ignored. (ECF No. 53 at 8 4.) Indeed, the deadline for filing a discovery motion passed without defendant’s attempting to 9 obtain any discovery responses from plaintiff. (See ECF No. 19.) 10 Courts in this district have made clear that deciding a summary judgment motion based on 11 ultimate-issue deemed admissions by a pro se inmate litigant, is disfavored. (See ECF No. 48 at 12 8.) Yet rather than pursue discovery as to the merits of plaintiff’s case, defendant opted to rely on 13 such admissions. He now asks that plaintiff be compelled – absent a timely motion to compel – 14 to provide additional discovery responses, so that defendant may renew his summary judgment 15 motion in light of plaintiff’s responses. 16 Having carefully reviewed the entire file, the court finds the findings and 17 recommendations to be supported by the record and by proper analysis. However, the court will 18 deny defendant’s motion for summary judgment without prejudice to renewal and direct the 19 magistrate judge to set a further discovery schedule in this action, so that summary judgment may 20 be litigated on the merits. 21 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 22 1. The findings and recommendations filed June 3, 2015 are adopted in full; 23 2. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 22) is denied without prejudice 24 to renewal; and 25 //// 26 //// 27 //// 28 //// 2 1 3. Good cause appearing, the assigned magistrate judge is directed to set a further 2 discovery and dispositive motion schedule in this action. 3 Dated: July 2, 2015 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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