Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_11-cv-01025/USCOURTS-caed-1_11-cv-01025-21/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

DENELL CAVER,

Plaintiff,

v.

E. GOMEZ, et al.,

Defendants.

_____________________________________/

Case No. 1:11-cv-01025-AWI-SKO (PC)

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR 

ATTENDANCE OF INMATE WITNESSES 

PERRY TALLEY AND JAMI JOHNSON

(Doc. 99)

Plaintiff Denell Caver (“Plaintiff”), a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 

pauperis, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on June 20, 2011. This action 

is proceeding on Plaintiff’s second amended complaint, filed on April 10, 2012, against 

Defendants Gomez, Stark, and Garcia (“Defendants”) for acting with deliberate indifference to 

Plaintiff’s safety, in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This 

case is set for jury trial on February 9, 2016, and on September 14, 2015, Plaintiff filed a timely 

motion seeking the attendance of two inmate witnesses. The deadline to oppose the motion was 

November 30, 2015, and Defendants did not file an opposition. (Doc. 94, 2nd Sched. Order.)

Plaintiff has submitted his declaration and the declarations of proposed witnesses Perry 

Talley, CDCR #D-91162, and Jami Johnson, CDCR #G-20888.1 The declarations state that Talley 

 

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Plaintiff identified this witness as Jamis Johnson. However, the Court takes judicial notice of the fact that California 

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation identification number G-20888 is assigned to inmate Jami Terrel 

Johnson. Fed. R. Evid. 201; Daniels-Hall v. National Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 998-99 (9th Cir. 2010).

Case 1:11-cv-01025-AWI-SKO Document 108 Filed 12/04/15 Page 1 of 2
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and Johnson were eye and ear witnesses to the relevant events on December 14, 2010, and 

December 15, 2010, at Kern Valley State Prison. Talley, who remains incarcerated at Kern Valley 

State Prison, was housed in the cell next to Plaintiff. Johnson, who is currently incarcerated at R. 

J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, was Plaintiff’s cellmate. Plaintiff has 

demonstrated that the witnesses’ presence will substantially further the resolution of the case and 

there is no evidence in the record weighing against their presence based on security risks 

presented; the expense of their transportation and safekeeping; or the ability to stay the case until 

their release, without prejudice to the cause asserted. Wiggins v. County of Alameda, 717 F.2d 

466, 468 n.1 (9th Cir. 1983) (citing Ballard v. Spradley, 557 F.2d 476, 480 (5th Cir. 1977)); 

Walker v. Sumner, 14 F.3d 1415, 1422 (9th Cir. 1994). Moreover, “[b]oth sides in a trial have the 

right to call witnesses, and the power to compel witness testimony is essential to our system of 

justice.” Barnett v. Norman, 782 F.3d 417, 422 (9th Cir. 2015). “The public’s interest in full 

disclosure and the fair administration of justice overrides concerns that testimony might be 

inconvenient, burdensome, or harmful to a witness’s social or economic status.” Barnett, 782 F.3d 

at 422. Based on the showing made by Plaintiff, he shall be permitted to call Talley and Johnson 

to testify on his behalf at trial.

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion for the attendance of inmate witnesses Perry Talley and 

Jami Johnson, filed on September 14, 2015, is HEREBY GRANTED.2

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 3, 2015 

 SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

 

2 Writs directing the transportation of Plaintiff, Talley, and Johnson for trial will be issued in due course.

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