Raiser v. San Diego County et al, No. 3:2019cv00751 - Document 19 (S.D. Cal. 2019)
Court Description: ORDER Granting ( 13 , 15 and 16 ) Applications for Expedited Discovery. The Clerk is therefore directed to issue a summons as to plaintiffs First Amended Complaint along with six copies of blank U.S. Marshall Form 285. The U.S. Marshal is ord ered to serve a copy of the First Amended Complaint and a summons upon each of the defendants as directed by plaintiff on the USM Form 285s. Signed by Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford on 9/25/19. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service) (Copy to USM via NEF, certified copy mailed to plaintiff) (dlg)
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Raiser v. San Diego County et al Doc. 19 FILED 1 SEP 2 5 2019 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 AARON RAISER, 12 Case No.: 19cv751-GPC(KSC) Plaintiff, 13 V. 14 SAN DIEGO COUNTY, et al., 15 ORDER GRANTING EX PARTE APPLICATIONS FOR EXPEDITED DISCOVERY [Doc. Nos. 13, 15, 16.] Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Aaron Raiser, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this action 18 pursuant to Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983, alleging that San Diego deputy 19 sheriffs violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches, 20 because they detained him on several occasions while he was in his car or walking on the 21 side of a street with no reason to believe he was breaking any laws. [Doc. No. 9, at pp. 4- 22 8.] Plaintiff also alleges that he believes San Diego deputy sheriffs have a custom or 23 policy of unlawfully detaining citizens. [Doc. No. 9, at p. 4.] 24 On July 31, 2019, plaintiff filed an Ex Parte Application for Order (1) Allowing 25 Extension of Time to Serve Doe Defendants and (2) Expedited Discovery to Identify Doe 26 Defendants. [Doc. No. 13.] On September 5, 2019 and September 7, 2019, plaintiff filed 27 two more Ex Parte Applications that are almost identical to his first Ex Parte 28 19cv751-GPC(KSC) Dockets.Justia.com 1 Application. These newer Ex Parte Applications seek the same relief as the original Ex 2 Parte Application. [Doc. Nos. 15, 16.] Background 3 4 In separate incidents at different locations on April 30, 2017, August 7, 2017, and 5 March 29, 2018, plaintiff alleges he was unlawfully detained by deputy sheriffs in 6 violation of the Fourth Amendment. All three incidents allegedly took place in San 7 Diego County. Plaintiff does not know the identities of the deputy sheriffs, so he named 8 the County of San Diego as a defendant, along with "DOES 1-20." [Doc. No. 9, at pp. 1, 9 4-8.] 10 Discussion 11 l 12 In his Ex Parte Applications, plaintiff seeks leave to serve discovery limited to Request for Expedited Discovery. 13 learning the identities of the DOE defendants on an expedited basis, so he can serve each 14 of them with a summons and the First Amended Complaint. [Doc. 16-1, at pp. 2-3; Doc. 15 · Nos. 13, 15.] Generally, discovery is not permitted without a court order before the 16 parties have conferred pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f). Fed. R. Civ. P. 17 26(d)(l ). In the Ninth Circuit, exceptions to requests for early discovery have generally 18 been disfavored. Gillespie v. Civiletti, 629 F.2d 637,642 (9th Cir. 1980.) "However, 19 situations arise, such as the present, where the identity of alleged defendants will not be 20 known prior to the filing of a complaint. In such circumstances, the plaintiff should be 21 given an opportunity through discovery to identify the unknown defendants, unless it is 22 clear that discovery would not uncover the identities, or that the complaint would be 23 dismissed on other grounds." Id. at p. 642. See also Wakefield v. Thompson, 177 F.3d 24 1160, 1163 (9th Cir. 1999). 25 Courts in the Ninth Circuit have also permitted expedited discovery prior to the 26 Rule 26(f) conference "upon a showing of good cause." American LegalNet, Inc. v. 27 Davis, 673 F.Supp.2d (C.D. Cal. 2009). However, courts have indicated that "some 28 limiting principals should apply to the determination of whether discovery to uncover the 2 l 9cv75 l-GPC(KSC) 1 identity of a defendant is warranted." Columbia Ins. Co. v. seescandy.com, 185 F.R.D. 2 573, 578 (N.D. Cal. 1999). Early discovery should be limited to "ensure that this unusual 3 procedure will only be employed in cases where the plaintiff has in good faith exhausted 4 traditional avenues for identifying a civil defendant pre-service and will prevent use of 5 this method to harass or intimidate." Id. 6 "First, the plaintiff should identify the missing party with sufficient specificity 7 such that the Court can determine that defendant is a real person or entity who could be 8 sued in federal court." Id. In support of his Ex Parte Application, plaintiff submitted a 9 Declaration stating he is aware from prior litigation that the San Diego County Sheriff 10 keeps a record whenever a deputy sheriff runs a background check on an individual. 11 Because the First Amended Complaint identifies the times, dates, and locations for the 12 alleged unlawful stops, plaintiff believes the San Diego County Sheriff can readily 13 identify the deputy sheriffs involved in each incident. [Doc. No. 16-2, at pp. 2-3.] The 14 First Amended Complaint also alleges that all three incidents that serve as the basis for 15 this action took place in San Diego County. [Doc. No. 9, at pp. 5-8.] Accordingly, the 16 Court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently and specifically identified the DOE defendants. 17 "Second, the party should identify all previous steps taken to locate the elusive 18 defendant. This element is aimed at ensuring that plaintiffs make a good faith effort to 19 comply with the requirements of service of process and specifically identifying 20 defendants." Columbia, 185 F.R.D. at 578. Prior to filing his Ex Parte Application, 21 plaintiff states in his Declaration that he contacted counsel for the County of San Diego 22 by phone and e-mail and attempted to arrange a stipulation for the parties to complete 23 initial disclosures prior to the usual deadlines so that he could discover the names of the 24 DOE defendants, but he was unsuccessful. [Doc. No. 16-2, at p. 2.] Plaintiff also 25 contacted a clerk in the Records Department for the San Diego County Sheriff and spoke 26 with a person familiar with the Sheriff's policies on public records requests. He was 27 advised by the clerk that he would not be able to obtain any records relating to the 28 incidents alleged in this litigation through the Records Department. [Doc. No. 16-2, at 3 19cv751-GPC(KSC) 1 p. 2.] Therefore, plaintiff represents that he has "exhausted all known means to obtain 2 the identities" of the DOE defendants "short of discovery." [Doc. No. 16-2, at p. 2.] 3 "Third, plaintiff should establish to the Court's satisfaction that plaintiffs suit 4 against defendant could withstand a motion to dismiss." Columbia, 185 F.R.D. at 578. 5 "Thus, plaintiff must make some showing that an act giving rise to civil liability actually 6 occurred and that the discovery is aimed at revealing specific identifying features of the 7 person or entity who committed that act." Id. at 580. Although liberally construed, 8 plaintiffs allegations against the DOE defendants have already survived initial screening 9 by the District Court. [Doc. No. 5, at p. 5.] 10 Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that plaintiff submitted enough information 11 to establish good cause for an order allowing him to proceed with expedited discovery 12 limited to learning the identities of the DOE defendants. Therefore, plaintiffs request for 13 an order permitting expedited discovery to learn the identities of the DOE defendants is 14 GRANTED. [Doc. Nos. 13, 15, 16.] 15 II. Request for Extension of Time to Serve the DOE Defendants. 16 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) provides that a complaint is subject to 17 dismissal if a defendant "is not served within 90 days" of filing. Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m). 18 However, "if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure [to serve the complaint], the 19 court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period." Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m) 20 (emphasis added). "District courts have broad discretion to extend time for service under 21 Rule 4(m)." Efaw v. Williams, 473 F.3d 1038, 1041 (9th Cir. 2007). "Good cause 22 generally means plaintiff attempted service but did not complete it; plaintiff was confused 23 about the requirements of service; or plaintiff was prevented from serving defendants by 24 factors beyond his control. It is examined by considering: (1) whether the delay resulted 25 from inadvertence or whether a reasonable effort to effect service has occurred; 26 (2) whether defendant has been prejudiced by the delay; or (3) whether plaintiff has 27 moved for an enlargement of time to effect service under FRCP 6(b)." Television Signal 28 Corp. v. City & Cty. ofSan Francisco, 193 F.R.D. 645, 646 (N.D. Cal. 2000). 4 19cv751-GPC(KSC) 1 Here, there is good cause to extend the time for service. Plaintiff has been diligent 2 and has attempted to discover the identities of the DOE defendants but has been unable to 3 do so because of policies imposed by the San Diego County Sheriffs office. He must 4 therefore serve defendant San Diego County with limited discovery requests on an 5 expedited basis to discover the identities of the DOE defendants. Thereafter, he will need 6 additional time to serve the DOE defendants once they are identified. It does not appear 7 this will cause any prejudice to the DOE defendants, because their employer is already a 8 defendant and has been served with a summons and the First Amended Complaint. As 9 noted above, the First Amended Complaint specifically identifies the DOE defendants by 10 date and by the locations where the alleged incidents took place. Accordingly, the Court 11 finds that plaintiffs request for an extension of time to effect service on the DOE 12 defendants must be GRANTED. 13 Conclusion 14 Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 15 1. Plaintiffs request for limited expedited discovery to learn the identities of 16 the DOE defendants is GRANTED. [Doc. Nos. 13, 15, 16.] No later ten (JO) days after 17 receiving this Order, plaintiff shall serve defendant with three (3) specific, narrowly 18 tailored interrogatories (i.e., one interrogatory for each incident alleged in the First 19 Amended Complaint). The limited purpose of these interrogatories shall be to discover 20 the identities of the DOE defendants and where these DOE defendants can be served with 21 the summons and the First Amended Complaint. 22 2. No later than ten (10) days after receipt of the above-described 23 interrogatories, defendant shall, without objection, serve plaintiff with responses to his 24 interrogatories that identify each of the DOE defendants to the extent possible and where 25 these individuals can be served with the summons and the First Amended Complaint. 26 3. No later than thirty (30) days after he receives the identities and addresses 27 for service of process for the DOE defendants, plaintiff shall serve each of these DOE 28 defendants with a summon and the First Amended Complaint. 5 19cv75 l-GPC(KSC) 1 4. To serve the summons and the First Amended Complaint on the DOE 2 defendants after they are identified, plaintiff shall use the same procedure as that set forth 3 in the District Court's Order of May 24, 2019 [Doc. No. 5]. The Clerk is therefore 4 DIRECTED to issue a summons as to plaintiffs First Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 9] 5 along with six (6) copies of blank U.S. Marshall Form 285. Upon receipt of the identities 6 of the DOE defendants and this "IFP Package," plaintiff must complete the Form 285s as 7 completely and accurately as possible, including an address where each named defendant 8 may be found and/or subject to service, and return the completed forms to the United 9 10 11 States Marshal according to the instructions the Clerk provides in the letter accompanying his IFP package. 5. The U.S. Marshal is ordered to serve a copy of the First Amended 12 Complaint and a summons upon each of the defendants as directed by plaintiff on the 13 USM Form 285s. All costs of that service will be advanced by the United States. See 28 14 U.S.C. § 1915(d); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3). 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 25_, 2019 17 18 on. K n S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 19cv751-GPC(KSC)
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