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Jason D. Lamm (018454)

Law Office of Jason Lamm

6245 North 24th Pkwy, Ste. 208

Phoenix, AZ 85016-2030

Tel: (602) 222-9237

Fax: (602) 222-2299

Email: jlamm@cyberlawaz.com

David J. Don (016462)

LAW OFFICE OF DAVID J. DON, PLLC

301 E. Bethany Home Rd., Suite B-100

Phoenix, Arizona 85012

Tel: 480-948-1212

Fax: 480-696-7756

Email: david@azcivilrights.com

Attorneys for Plaintiff Leslie A. Merritt, Jr.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Leslie A Merritt, Jr., a single man, 

Plaintiff,

vs.

State of Arizona, et al.

Defendants.

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Case No.: CV17-4540-PHX-DGC

STIPULATED MOTION TO 

AMEND CASE MANAGEMENT 

ORDER (Second Request)

The parties, through their undersigned counsel, move this Court under 

LRCiv 7.3 for an order amending the Case Management Order (Doc. 45) to permit

the depositions of three witnesses relating to documents which had not been 

previously known to the parties or disclosed. The extension sought will not affect 

the respective deadlines for taking an expert deposition or for filing dispositive 

motions.

The Court’s Scheduling Order (Doc. 45 at ¶4), set a September 7, 2018 

deadline for completing fact discovery.

Case 2:17-cv-04540-DGC Document 209 Filed 11/30/18 Page 1 of 4
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On November 2, 2018, State Defendants disclosed Joseph Slatalla as an 

expert in cellular tower forensics and analysis. Plaintiff issued a subpoena duces 

tecum to Mr. Slatalla for a copy of his file, to which he responded on November 14, 

2018. (See Doc. 200).

Mr. Slatalla’s file contained previously undisclosed maps depicting the date, 

time, and location of numerous shootings that occurred along the I-10 Freeway 

during August and September of 2015, including descriptions of those that led to 

the State's filing of criminal charges against the Plaintiff. The maps and embedded 

commentary were generated by Brittany Falcone (now Willis) of the Scottsdale 

Police Department on DPS letterhead and at the request of a DPS analyst, Tracy 

Neuman. Ms. Falcone was married to the case agent, Defendant Detective 

Anthony Falcone.

Plaintiff asserts that portions of the materials are exculpatory and therefore 

relevant to one or more causes of action alleged. Defendants state that Ms. 

Neuman, or another analyst, provided Mr. Slatalla with Ms. Falcone’s information 

and that before the issue being raised by Plaintiff, defense counsel was unaware of 

Ms. Falcone’s work on this case.

Rule 16 provides that deadlines established in a case management order 

may "be modified only for good cause[.]" Fed.R.Civ. P. 16(b)(4). "Good cause" 

exists when a deadline "cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party 

seeking the extension." Fed.R.Civ.P. 16 Advisory Comm.'s Notes (1983 Am.). The 

standard is "primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the 

amendment." Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 608 (9th Cir. 

1992). 

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The parties submit that good cause exists to reopen fact discovery on a 

limited basis to allow the taking one hour maximum depositions of Brittany 

Falcone, Tracy Neuman, and Defendant Anthony Falcone. The plaintiff bears no 

fault for the delayed disclosure and defense counsel did not know of the existence 

of Ms. Falcone’s maps/reports.

For a good cause shown, Plaintiff asks this Court to amend the scheduling 

order to the limited extent that:

 Plaintiff may depose Brittany Falcone and Tracy Neuman, and may 

re-depose Defendant Anthony Falcone. 

 Said depositions shall be limited to one (1) hour in length;

 Said depositions shall be conducted no later than January 18, 2019.

DATED THIS 30th day of November 2018.

LAW OFFICE OF JASON LAMM

By: /s/ Jason D. Lamm

David J. Don

Attorney for Plaintiff Leslie Merritt, Jr.

LAW OFFICES OF DAVID J. DON, P.L.L.C.

By: /s/ David J. Don

David J. Don

Attorney for Plaintiff Leslie Merritt, Jr.

POLSINELLI PC

By: /s/ Edward Novak

Edward Novak

Attorneys for Defendant State of Arizona, 

Silbert, Kalkowski, Milstead, Hunter, 

Heape, Pinnow and Falcone

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that on this 30th day of November 2018, I electronically transmitted 

the attached document to the Clerk’s Office using the CM/ECF system for filing 

and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF 

registrants:

Clerk of the Court

United States District Court, District of Arizona

Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse

401 W. Washington St.

Phoenix, AZ 85003

Edward F. Novak, Esq.

Melissa Ho, Esq.

Jonathan G. Brinson, Esq.

Polsinelli PC

One East Washington Street, Suite 1200

Phoenix, AZ 85004

enovak@polsinelli.com; mho@polsinelli.com, jbrinson@polsinelli.com

Attorneys for Defendant State of Arizona, Heston Silbert, Christopher Kalkowski, 

Frank Milstead, Ken Hunter, Kelly M. Heape, Jennifer Pinnow, Anthony Falcone

By: /s/ David J Don

Case 2:17-cv-04540-DGC Document 209 Filed 11/30/18 Page 4 of 4