Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_02-cv-02036/USCOURTS-caed-2_02-cv-02036-8/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LANCE B. JETT, )

) 2:02-cv-2036-GEB-JFM-P

Plaintiff, )

)

v. ) ORDER RE: SETTLEMENT

) AND DISPOSITION

MONTE W. PENNER, et al., ) 

)

Defendants. )

)

On November 9, 2007, the parties filed a Notice of

Settlement notifying the Court that they “have orally reached

settlement agreements that will resolve all present and future

disputes arising out of the events set forth in plaintiff’s

complaint.” The Notice of Settlement also “request[s] that the

court continue trial in this matter, and all pending deadlines for

submission of trial briefs, motions in limine, jury instructions,

etc. . . . for ninety (90) days or as soon thereafter as this

matter may be heard.” 

Trial is scheduled to commence in this action on December

4, 2007. Absent a showing that a judicially enforceable settlement

exists, the trial commencement date will not be vacated; the mere

representation that an action has been settled does not justify

Case 2:02-cv-02036-GEB -JFM Document 154 Filed 11/13/07 Page 1 of 4
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removal of the action from a district court’s trial docket. See

Callie v. Near, 829 F.2d 888, 890 (9th Cir. 1987) (revealing that

before a settlement agreement is enforceable the parties must have

agreed to all material terms of the settlement in an enforceable

form). Moreover, vacating the trial date in this action would

create a docketing problem because other actions are scheduled for

trial ninety days from the trial date presently scheduled in this

action. It is doubtful that it would be fair for the parties in

those actions to lose their trial dates if settlement is not

realized in this action. 

If the parties desire to have the trial date vacated,

they must file a dismissal document by November 29, 2007, or place

a judicially enforceable settlement on the record by the same date

(either by filing a writing in which the parties and counsel set 

forth all material terms of the settlement or by setting forth all

material settlement terms on the record in a hearing before the

judge). Otherwise, the case will not be removed from the judge’s

trial docket. 

If the parties elect to file a document setting forth the

material terms of their settlement, each party, through an

authorized agent, must affirm the settlement under 28 U.S.C. §

1746, or through the agent’s duly-notarized signature. Affirming

the settlement as stated could make it enforceable under federal

law. See Callie, 829 F.2d at 890. If the parties elect to set

forth the settlement terms at a hearing on the record, they must

contact the judge’s courtroom deputy, Shani Furstenau (916-930-

4114), to schedule a hearing on the judge’s calender so that the

hearing will take place on or before November 29, 2007.

Case 2:02-cv-02036-GEB -JFM Document 154 Filed 11/13/07 Page 2 of 4
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In light of the prospects that this action has to settle,

the parties’ request to continue the pending dates set forth in the

October 10, 2007 Final Pretrial Order (“FPO”), except for the 

trial date, is granted, but not to the extent requested. The

pending dates are modified as follows: any Stipulation Re:

Evidentiary Disagreements (FPO at 2); trial briefs (FPO at 3); a

statement concerning the nature of this case that can be read to

the jury (FPO at 8-9); jury instructions (FPO at 9); proposed voir

dire (FPO at 9); verdict forms (FPO at 9); and a document

estimating the length of the trial (FPO at 13 n.7), shall be filed

no later than November 28, 2007. Responding trial briefs (FPO at

3); any authority opposing a contested jury instruction or verdict

form (FPO at 9, 10); and any authority opposing proposed voir dire

questions (FPO at 11), shall be filed no later than noon on

November 30, 2007. The parties shall exchange exhibits with each

other no later than November 28, 2007, and any objection to an

exhibit shall be filed no later than noon on November 30, 2007. 

(FPO at 6.) Further, counsel for each party shall serve on the

other parties a statement designating all answers to

interrogatories and all portions of depositions no later than

November 26, 2007; shall serve counter-designations of other

portions of those discovery documents no later than November 28,

2007; and shall file and serve any preserved evidentiary objections

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to any designated discovery no later than noon on November 30,

2007. (FPO at 7.)

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 13, 2007

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