Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_20-cv-00813/USCOURTS-caed-1_20-cv-00813-9/pdf.json

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

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MICHELLE-LAEL B. NORSWORTHY,

Plaintiff,

v.

JANEL ESPINOZA, MICHAEL 

PALLARES, IKWINDER SINGH, 

ROBERT MITCHELL, ROSELLE 

BRANCH, LESLIE TAYLOR, CHENOA 

DILL, SERGEANT GIBSON, GERARDO 

GARCIA-TORRES, OFFICER SHOALS, 

and OFFICER GOETHE,

Defendants.

Case No. 1:20-cv-00813-ADA-HBK (PC)

AMENDED CASE MANAGEMENT AND 

SCHEDULING ORDER

On September 14, 2023, due to the filing of Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint, the 

Court held a telephonic status conference to discuss revised proposed deadlines to the previously 

amended Case Management and Scheduling Order. 1 Attorneys Phillip J. Wiese and Christopher 

Banks appeared on behalf of Plaintiff and Deputy Attorney Generals Alice M. Segal and Paul 

Kozina appeared on behalf of Defendants. The Court will adopt the proposed deadlines for 

discovery and dispositive motions as set forth in the Parties’ joint status report filed September 

1 On October 20, 2022, the Court vacated the deadlines in the governing discovery and scheduling order 

(Doc. No. 66) pending the Court’s ruling on Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a second amended 

complaint.

Case 1:20-cv-00813-KES-HBK Document 90 Filed 09/21/23 Page 1 of 6
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14, 2023. (Doc. No. 87). The Court will further set this case for trial before the district court. 

Accordingly, the following deadlines and procedures will govern this action.

I. Deadlines and Dates

Action or Event Date

Deadline to complete non-expert discovery including motions to compel. See

Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. 2/29/2024

Deadline for expert discovery including the production and exchange of 

expert reports. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2). 04/29/2024

Deadline to advise the Court of settlement, ADR, VDRP or mediation efforts 

to date. See Local Rules 270, 271. The parties may contact Chambers prior 

to this date to arrange a settlement conference.

05/01/2024

Deadline to file pre-trial dispositive motions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. 05/20/2024

Deadline to file final joint pretrial statement, motion(s) in limine, proposed 

jury instructions, and verdict form. See Local Rules 281, 282. 10/11/2024

Date of the final pretrial conference. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e); See Local 

Rule 280, 281, 282, 283. 

10/28/2024 at 

1:30 p.m. 

Trial Date 12/10/2024 at 

8:30 a.m. 

II. Discovery 

The parties are bound by the limitations on discovery imposed under the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure and the Court’s Local Rules. The Court follows the rule that the completion date 

means that all discovery must be finished by the deadline set in the Rule 16 Case Management 

and Scheduling Order. Litigants—by their own agreement—may conduct discovery after the 

formal completion date but the Court is not inclined to consider discovery disputes after the 

discovery completion date. In fact, motions to compel filed after the discovery deadline are 

presumptively untimely and may be denied on that basis alone.

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Filing Motions, Deadlines and Hearings

Unless the Court grants prior leave, all moving and opposition briefs or legal 

memorandum in civil cases before Judge Barch-Kuchta shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages. 

Reply briefs by the moving party shall not exceed ten (10) pages. These page limitations do not 

include exhibits or declarations. Briefs exceeding this page limitation without leave of Court may 

be stricken or not considered. Counsel may choose to appear telephonically to argue nondispositive motions before Magistrate Judge Barch-Kuchta, provided they indicate their intent to 

appear telephonically on their pleadings at least one week before the hearing. The Court’s 

teleconference line is 1-888-204-5984; Access Code 4446176.

Local Rule 230(b) governs the deadlines for a party to file a response and/or a reply to a 

motion. As a rule, the Court will consider motions based on a review of the papers without oral 

argument under Local Rule 230(g). If the Court decides a hearing is necessary following review 

of the record and briefs on file, the Court will set a hearing. 

Informal Discovery Conference Prior to Filing Motion to Compel

Prior to filing a discovery motion under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, a party must receive 

permission from the Court, which the Court will grant following an informal discovery 

conference. An informal discovery conference is separate and apart from the Mid-Discovery 

Conference above. 

Please refer to Judge Barch-Kuchta’s “Civil Procedures” included under the “Case 

Management Procedures” tab on this Court’s webpage.2 A party requesting an informal 

discovery conference should contact Chambers for available dates. The Court will schedule the 

conference as soon as possible, taking into consideration the urgency of the issue. Before 

contacting the Court, the parties must meet and confer by speaking in person, over the telephone, 

or via video conference in attempt to resolve the dispute. 

At least 24-hours before the conference, each party shall simultaneously submit a letter 

brief, outlining their position regarding the dispute. The letter briefs shall be no longer than three 

2 Available at http://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/index.cfm/judges/all-judges/502311/.

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(3) pages in length. Letter briefs should not be filed but shall be emailed to Chambers at 

hbkorders@edca.uscourts.gov. 

Motions to Compel

After taking part in the informal discovery conference, the parties must conduct at least 

one more telephonic or video call as part of their obligations to meet and confer in good faith to 

resolve their discovery dispute prior to seeking judicial intervention. If a party files a motion to 

compel under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, the parties must prepare and file a Joint Statement Regarding 

Discovery Disagreement in compliance with Local Rule 251. Failure to follow Local Rule 251 

will result in the Court denying the motion without prejudice and dropping the motion from 

calendar. In addition to filing a Joint Statement electronically, a copy of the Joint Statement, in 

Word format, shall also emailed to Chambers at hbkorders@caed.uscourts.gov.

III. Mandatory Settlement Conference (Local Rule 270)

By the above date, the parties shall submit a Joint Settlement Statement indicating 

whether they have engaged in settlement discussions or mediation and/or whether they request the 

Court to set a settlement conference. If so, a settlement conference will be set by separate order. 

The parties are advised that unless otherwise allowed in advance by the Court, the attorneys who 

will try the case shall appear at the settlement conference with the parties and the person or 

persons having full authority to negotiate and settle the case, on any terms, at the conference. 

The parties may contact Chambers any time prior to this date if they wish to schedule a 

settlement conference or participate in the VDRP program set forth in Local Rule 271.

IV. Dispositive Pre-Trial Motions

All dispositive pre-trial motions shall be filed no later than May 20, 2024, and heard 

pursuant to the Local Rules in Courtroom 6 before United States Magistrate Judge Helena BarchKuchta for preparation of Findings and Recommendation to the district court. In scheduling such 

motions, counsel shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P 56 and Local Rules 230 and 260. Prior to 

filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for summary adjudication, the parties are 

ORDERED to meet, in person or by telephone, and confer to discuss the issues to be raised in the 

motion. The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment 

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where a question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has 

merit in whole or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of 

briefing; 4) narrow the issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement 

before the parties incur the expense of briefing a summary judgment motion; and 6) to arrive at a 

Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts. The moving party shall initiate the meeting and provide a 

draft of the Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 

260, the moving party shall file a Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts. In the Notice of Motion, 

the moving party shall certify that the parties have met and conferred as ordered above or set forth 

a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and confer.

V. Pre-Trial Conference Date

The Pre-Trial conference is set for October 28, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1 before 

United States District Judge Ana de Alba. The parties are ordered to file a Joint Pretrial 

Statement pursuant to Local Rule 281(a)(2). The parties are further directed to submit a digital 

copy of their Pretrial Statement in Word format, directly to Judge de Alba’s chambers by email at 

adaorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Counsels’ attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local 

Rules for the Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the 

pre-trial conference. The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. In addition to 

the matters set forth in the Local Rules, the Joint Pretrial Statement shall include a Joint 

Statement of the Case to be used by the Court to explain the nature of the case to the jury during 

voir dire.

VI. Trial Date

Trial is set for December 10, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 before Judge de Alba.

A. This is a JURY trial.

B. Counsels’ estimate of trial time: 5-8 days.

C. Counsels’ attention is directed to Local Rule 285 for the Eastern District of California.

VII. Effect of This Order

This Amended CMSO represents the best estimate of the Court and parties as to the 

schedule most suitable for this case. The dates set in this Order are firm and will not be modified 

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absent a showing of good cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations 

extending the deadlines will not be considered unless they are accompanied by affidavits or 

declarations, and where appropriate, attached exhibits, which establish good cause for granting 

the relief requested. The failure to comply with this Order may result in the imposition of 

sanctions.

Dated: September 21, 2023 

HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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