Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_21-cv-00942/USCOURTS-caed-1_21-cv-00942-11/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

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PERCY LEE RHODES,

Plaintiff,

v.

JOSEPH RUIZ, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 1:21-cv-00942-CDB (PC) 

ORDER DISCHARGING ORDER TO 

SHOW CAUSE (Doc. 42)

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S 

MOTION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS FOR 

90 DAYS (Doc. 39)

Plaintiff Percy Lee Rhodes is a proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights 

action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

I. INTRODUCTION

On December 15, 2023, Plaintiff filed a document titled “Order and Motion to Move the 

Court for a Stay of 90 Days and Change of Address.” (See Doc. 39.) 

On January 8, 2024, the Court issued its Order to Show Cause (“OSC”) Why Sanctions 

Should Not Be Imposed for Defendants’ Failure to File an Opposition or Statement of NonOpposition (Doc. 42) to Plaintiff’s pending motion. That same date, Defendants filed a Statement 

of Non-Opposition. (Doc. 43.) 

II. DISCUSSION

Plaintiff seeks a 90-day stay of this action, stating that on November 21, 2023, he “made a 

911 call in fear for his safety while suffering from symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder 

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causing a medical hospital stay, treatment and mental health services.” (Doc. 39 at 2.) Those 

events also effect his present confinement.1(Id.) Plaintiff essentially requests this action be stayed 

in light of his present health and well-being. (Id.) 

Defendants do not oppose a 90-day stay of these proceedings. (Doc. 42.) Defendants state 

discovery has not yet been completed and no trial date has been set. (Id. at 2.) They state they “do 

not anticipate that a 90-day stay of the proceedings will prejudice either party and for that reason 

do not oppose Plaintiff’s motion.” (Id.) Defendants ask the Court to extend the deadlines imposed 

in the Court’s Discovery and Scheduling Order by approximately 90 days from the date of any 

stay. (Id.) 

The district court “has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to 

control its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997) (citing Landis v. North 

American Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936)). A stay is discretionary and the “party requesting a stay 

bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of that discretion.” Nken v. 

Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 433–34 (2009). “Generally, stays should not be indefinite in nature.” 

Dependable Highway Exp., Inc. v. Navigators Ins. Co., 498 F.3d 1059, 1066–67 (9th Cir. 2007). 

Here, the Court finds good cause in Plaintiff’s representations in support of the requested 

stay and Defendants’ non-opposition and will grant Plaintiff’s request for a 90-day stay of these 

proceedings. Clinton, 520 U.S. at 706; Dependable Highway Exp., Inc., 498 F.3d at 1066-67. 

Further, the Court will modify the relevant deadlines originally imposed in its Discovery and 

Scheduling Order issued October 3, 2023.

III. CONCLUSION AND ORDER

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. The OSC issued January 8, 2024 (Doc. 42) is DISCHARGED; and 

2. Plaintiff’s motion filed December 15, 2023 (Doc. 39) is GRANTED;

3. This action is STAYED for 90 days from the date of service of this order; and 

4. The Discovery and Scheduling Order is MODIFIED as follows:

1 Prior to his current incarceration at the Fresno County Jail, Plaintiff’s address of record was a residential 

street address on East Clinton Avenue in Fresno, California.

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a. The exhaustion motion filing deadline is extended from February 3, 2024 to 

May 3, 2024; 

b. The discovery deadline is extended from June 3, 2024 to September 1, 2024; 

and 

c. The dispositive motion deadline is extended from August 12, 2024 to 

November 10, 2024. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 9, 2024 ___________________ _

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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