Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_07-cv-00305/USCOURTS-cand-4_07-cv-00305-4/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Carlos M. Gutierez
Defendant
Benjamin F. Robinson
Plaintiff

Document Text:

United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

BENJAMIN F. ROBINSON

Plaintiff, No. C 07-0305 PJH

v. ORDER

CARLOS M. GUTIEREZ, Secretary of

the Department of Commerce,

Defendant.

_______________________________/

Before the court is an October 17, 2007 letter from plaintiff’s counsel, in which he

requests that this matter be referred to a magistrate judge for a discovery conference in

order to resolve several disputes regarding defendant’s failure to respond to written

discovery or to participate in the scheduling of certain depositions. Although a motion to

compel is generally the first step in obtaining such a referral, the court will refer this matter

for an informal conference at the appropriate time. In that regard, the court notes that on

October 16, 2007, defendant filed a motion to stay all proceedings in this case pending

resolution of a criminal case stemming from the same facts that form the basis of the civil

complaint. Plaintiff has apparently been indicted on criminal charges and is pending trial

setting before Judge Fogel. The motion to stay was noticed for hearing on November 21,

2007. Given that the discovery disputes will not need to be decided, at least at this early

juncture of the civil case, if the case is stayed, and in the interest of conserving valuable

court resources, the court will defer the reference to a magistrate judge until after the

Case 4:07-cv-00305-PJH Document 25 Filed 10/18/07 Page 1 of 2
United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

2

hearing and decision on defendant’s motion to stay. If the motion to stay is decided on the

papers and the hearing vacated, the court will rule on the discovery request in the same

order.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: October 18, 2007 ______________________________

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON

United States District Judge

Case 4:07-cv-00305-PJH Document 25 Filed 10/18/07 Page 2 of 2