Johnson v. Lewis et al, No. 2:2017cv01668 - Document 17 (D. Nev. 2018)
Court Description: ORDER Granting 16 Motion to Extend Time Re: 6 Complaint. James Dzurenda answer due 12/13/2018; Lewis answer due 12/13/2018. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carl W. Hoffman on 12/6/2018. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - ADR)
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Johnson v. Lewis et al Doc. 17 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16 Filed 10/29/18 Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ADAM PAUL LAXALT Attorney General JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132) Senior Deputy Attorney General State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General 555 E. Washington Ave., Ste. 3900 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 (702) 486-3177 (phone) (702) 486-3773 (fax) Email: jfrost@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants James Dzurenda and Joseph Lewis 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 11 Case No. 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH LAUSTEVEION JOHNSON, Plaintiff, 12 13 v. 14 LEWIS, et al., DEFENDANT DZURENDA AND LEWIS’ REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO COMPLAINT (First Request) Defendants. 15 16 Defendants James Dzurenda and Joseph Lewis, by and through counsel, Adam Paul 17 Laxalt, Nevada Attorney General, and Jared M. Frost, Senior Deputy Attorney General, 18 hereby move for a forty-five (45) day extension of time to respond to Plaintiff’s Complaint. 19 Defendants’ motion is made and based on Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 20 the following memorandum of points and authorities, the attached Declaration of Counsel, 21 the pleadings and papers on file, and any other evidence the Court deems appropriate to 22 consider. MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 23 24 I. BACKGROUND 25 This is a prisoner civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983. ECF 26 No. 1-1. Plaintiff filed his Complaint in on June 8, 2017, while in the custody of the Nevada 27 Department of Corrections (NDOC). ECF NO. 1-1. 28 ... Page 1 of 4 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16 Filed 10/29/18 Page 2 of 4 1 2 On July 18, 2018, the Court issued its Screening Order. ECF No. 5. Pursuant to the Screening Order, Plaintiff was allowed to proceed on the following claims: 3 Retaliation claim against Willis, Lewis, Gentry, Adams, and Dzurenda 4 alleging retaliatory force, false charges, and adjudication of a disciplinary 5 proceeding. 6 7 8 9 Free exercise/establishment claim alleging Willis required Plaintiff to proclaim “Jesus is God” to avoid disciplinary charges. Excessive force claim alleging Willis slammed Plaintiff’s head in a steel gate. Conditions of confinement claim against Lewis, Gentry, Adams, and 10 Dzurenda alleging placement of mentally ill inmate in disciplinary 11 segregation for sixty (60) days without sensory stimulation. 12 Americans With Disabilities Act claim against Lewis, Gentry, Adams, and 13 Dzurenda alleging failure to accommodate mental illness when placing 14 Plaintiff in segregation without stimulation. 15 16 17 Conditions of confinement claim against Willis, Dzurenda, and Gentry alleging they disabled prison gate safety features. Due process claim against Lewis, Gentry, and Dzurenda alleging denial of 18 opportunity to call witness at a disciplinary hearing and lack of any evidence 19 demonstrating he crossed a red line. 20 21 22 Plaintiff faced disciplinary charges because he is a Muslim. See ECF No. 6. 23 24 Equal protection claim against Willis, Lewis, Gentry, and Dzurenda alleging On August 24, 2018, the Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to exclude the case from mediation. ECF NO. 11. 25 On August 29, 2018, the Court granted Plaintiff’s application to proceed in pauper 26 status and directed Defendants to file a response to the Complaint within ninety (90) days. 27 ECF No. 12. 28 ... Page 2 of 4 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16 Filed 10/29/18 Page 3 of 4 1 2 On September 12, 2018, the Office of the Nevada Attorney General entered an Acceptance of Service for Defendants Dzurenda and Lewis. ECF No. 13. 3 This motion for an extension of time to file a Response to Plaintiff’s Complaint 4 follows. 5 II. 6 APPLICABLE LAW Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(1)(A), the Court may extend the 7 time to perform an act within a specified time for good cause shown. 8 III. ARGUMENT 9 Defendants submit that good cause exists to extend the time to respond to Plaintiff’s 10 Complaint. Defendants’ response is currently due October 29, 2018. Since the Court issued 11 its August 29 order, the undersigned has completed an initial review of the Complaint and 12 collected certain records pertaining to this matter. However, the undersigned has been 13 unable to complete a response due to his responsibilities to meet deadlines in other cases. 14 See Exhibit 1 (Declaration of Counsel). In addition, this case is of moderate complexity 15 given the numerous defendants, occurrences, and legal theories that survived the screening 16 order. Defendants therefore request an extension of forty-five (45) days, or until December 17 13, 2018, to file a Response to Plaintiff’s Complaint. 18 DATED this 29th day of October, 2018. 19 ADAM PAUL LAXALT Attorney General 20 By: /s/ Jared M. Frost JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132) Senior Deputy Attorney General Attorneys for Defendant 21 22 23 24 25 Dec 06, 2018 26 27 28 Page 3 of 4 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16 Filed 10/29/18 Page 4 of 4 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 I certify that I am an employee of the State of Nevada, Office of the Attorney General, 3 and that on October 29, 2018, I electronically filed the foregoing document via this Court’s 4 electronic filing system. Parties who are registered with this Court’s electronic filing 5 system will be served electronically. For those parties not registered, service was made by 6 depositing a copy for mailing in the United States Mail, first-class postage prepaid, at Las 7 Vegas, Nevada, addressed to the following: 8 Lausteveion Johnson, #82138 High Desert State Prison P.O. Box 650 Indian Springs, Nevada 89070 Plaintiff, Pro Se 9 10 11 12 13 /s/ Traci Plotnick Traci Plotnick, an employee of the Office of the Nevada Attorney General 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page 4 of 4 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16-1 Filed 10/29/18 Page 1 of 3 EXHIBIT 1 Declaration of Counsel EXHIBIT 1 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16-1 Filed 10/29/18 Page 2 of 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ADAM PAUL LAXALT Attorney General JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132) Senior Deputy Attorney General State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General 555 E. Washington Ave., Ste. 3900 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 (702) 486-3177 (phone) (702) 486-3773 (fax) Email: jfrost@ag.nv.gov Attorneys for Defendants James Dzurenda and Joseph Lewis 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 11 Case No. 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH LAUSTEVEION JOHNSON, Plaintiff, 12 DECLARATION OF COUNSEL 13 v. 14 LEWIS, et al., Defendants. 15 16 17 18 I, JARED M. FROST, hereby declare, based on personal knowledge and/or information and belief, that the following assertions are true: 1. I am a Senior Deputy Attorney General employed by the Nevada Attorney 19 General in the Litigation Division, and I make this declaration in support of Defendants’ 20 motion to extend the time in which to file a Response to Plaintiff’s Complaint filed in the 21 above-referenced matter. 22 2. Since Defendants were directed to respond to the Complaint on August 29, 23 2018, I have completed an initial review of the Complaint and collected certain prison records 24 related to Plaintiff’s allegations. However, I have been unable to complete the Response due 25 to my responsibilities to meet deadlines in other cases. 26 3. My responsibilities to meet recent deadlines in other cases during the past 27 month include: Jackson v. State of Nevada, 2:16-cv-00995 (Reply regarding Motion for 28 Protective Order and Response to Countermotions filed October 29, 2018; supplemental Page 1 of 2 Case 2:17-cv-01668-JAD-CWH Document 16-1 Filed 10/29/18 Page 3 of 3 1 discovery responses and records disclosure served October 22, 2018; Motion to Strike filed 2 October 19, 2018; six supplemental discovery responses, records disclosure, and privilege log 3 served October 12, 2018); Prentice v. State of Nevada, 2:18-cv-01801 (Response to motion 4 regarding screening filed October 25, 2018; Status Report filed October 3, 2018); Ross v. 5 Sandoval, 2:17-cv-02386 (Notices Of Compliance filed October 22, 2018); Matlean v. 6 Dzurenda, 2:17-cv-01461 (Answer to Complaint filed October 19, 2018); Rexroad v. Neven, 7 2:17-cv-01629 (Acceptance of Service and Last Known Addresses filed October 18, 2018); 8 Rider v. Tristan, 2:16-cv-02633 (Reply regarding Motion for Summary Judgment filed October 9 2, 2018). 10 4. In addition to the foregoing responsibilities, I have been assigned to develop new 11 training materials for NDOC staff and serve as the Internship Coordinator for the Office of 12 the Attorney General. These assignments have also contributed to my inability to complete a 13 response during the relevant period. 14 5. 15 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1746 Declarant certifies, under penalty of perjury, that 16 17 18 19 20 21 This request is made in good faith and not for the purpose of delay. the foregoing is true and correct. DATED this 29th day of October, 2018. ADAM PAUL LAXALT Attorney General By: /s/ Jared M. Frost JARED M. FROST (Bar No. 11132) Senior Deputy Attorney General Attorneys for Defendant 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page 2 of 2
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