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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

STIPULATION TO AMEND CASE 

MANAGEMENT ORDER (First 

Request)

The parties, through undersigned counsel, move this Court under LRCiv 7.3 

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

completion of the depositions of Defendant Kenneth Hunter, Deputy County 

Attorney Edward Leiter and (former) Deputy County Attorney Vanessa Losicco 

Cuevas. All parties consent to the granting of this stipulation. A proposed form of 

order is attached.

On August 20, 2018, Plaintiff took the depositions of Leiter and Cuevas. 

During the course of the depositions, there were not less than two dozen occasions 

Case 2:17-cv-04540-DGC Document 172 Filed 09/07/18 Page 1 of 4
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where the witnesses refused to answer questions at the direction of their counsel 

based upon assertions of immunity, work product, and deliberative process 

privilege.

On August 23, 2018, Plaintiff began the deposition of Defendant Kenneth 

Hunter. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Defendant Hunter had travel plans that required 

him to leave the deposition before its completion. Before adjourning, the parties 

agreed, on the record, to reconvene and complete the deposition at a later date. Also,

the deponent refused to answer numerous questions, asserting an “ongoing 

investigative privilege.” 

The Court has set a telephonic discovery conference on September 20, 2018, 

at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the assertion of various privileges raised during the 

respective depositions. (Doc. 166). The Case Management Order (Doc. 45, at 

paragraph 4(a)) sets September 7, 2018, as a deadline for completing fact discovery. 

Because the date of the conference occurs after the deadline for completing the fact 

discovery, Plaintiff seeks leave of Court to permit the depositions to be reconvened, 

subject to the Court’s rulings. 

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). Here, Plaintiff 

has been diligent in pursuing discovery and setting depositions within the existing

deadline for completing fact discovery. Notwithstanding, Hunter could not 

complete his deposition within the fact discovery deadline. Additionally, the Court

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must resolve discovery disputes pertaining to the testimony sought, not only from 

Hunter, but also Leiter and Cuevas. Good cause therefore exists to extend the fact 

discovery deadline for the limited purpose of concluding the depositions that were 

commenced prior to its expiration.

DATED THIS 7

th day of September 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

IAFRATE & ASSOCIATES

By: /s/ Michele Iafrate

Michele Iafrate

Attorney for William Montgomery 

and Maricopa County

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that on this 7th day of September 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:

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Clerk of the Court

United States District Court, District of Arizona

Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse

401 W. Washington St.

Phoenix, AZ 85003

Michele Iafrate, Esq.

Iafrate & Associates

649 North Second Avenue

Phoenix, Arizona 85003

miafrate@iafratelaw.com

Attorneys for Defendants Maricopa County and William Montgomery

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/ Kathryn A. Miller

Kathryn A. Miller

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