United States District Court, E.D. California
PETER T. HARRELL, Plaintiff,
v.
HORNBROOK COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT, MICHELLE HANSON, PATRICIA BROWN, SHARREL BARNES, ROGER GIFFORD, ROBERT WINSTON, JULIE BOWLES, CLINT DINGMAN, ERNEST GOFF, ROBERT PUCKETT, SR., HORNBROOK COMMUNITY BIBLE CHURCH a.k.a. “HCBC”, STEVEN CRITTENDEN, MURPHEY, PEARSON, BRADLEY & FEENEY, INC., BASIC LABORATORY, INC., DUKE MARTIN, KISHER, WINTON & BOSTON, L.C. and Does 9-20, Defendants.
ORDER
Gregory G. Hollows UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
On the
Court’s calendar for hearing on August 4, 2015 are
Motions to Dismiss by defendant Robert Winston, ECF No. 66,
Hornbrook Community Services District, ECF No. 68, and
Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, Inc., ECF No. 69,
Motions to Strike by Robert Winston, ECF No. 67, and Murphy,
Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, Inc., ECF No. 70, and
Plaintiff’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction and
Request for Appointment of a Receiver. ECF No. 71. There are,
however, procedural issues related to Plaintiff’s
Motion.
Eastern
District of California Local Rule 230 requires that:
(b) The moving party shall file a notice of a motion, motion,
accompanying briefs and affidavits, if appropriate, and
copies of all documentary evidence that the moving party
intends to submit in support of the motion. The matter shall
be set for hearing on the motion calendar of the Judge or
Magistrate Judge to whom the action has been assigned or
before whom the motion is to be heard not less than
twenty-eight (28) days after service and filing of the
motion.
(c) Opposition, if any to the granting of the motion shall be
in writing and shall be filed and served not less than
fourteen (14) days preceding the noticed (or continued)
hearing date.
Plaintiff
filed his Motion for Preliminary Injunction and for
Appointment of a Receiver on July 12, 2016 and noticed it for
hearing on August 4, 2016, thus allowing only 23 days, not
the required 28 days, between that filing and the stated
hearing date. Having failed to conform to the Rules of
Procedure in place in this Court, Plaintiff’s motion
will not be heard on the August 4 calendar. Insofar
as the Magistrate Judge responsible for hearing this matter
will be unavailable until September 25, 2016, Plaintiff is
ordered to re-notice his Motion for hearing on that date,
defendants’ Oppositions will be due on September 8,
2016, and plaintiff’s Reply will be due on September
15, 2016.[1]
In
addition to the foregoing, Plaintiff filed a document titled
“Motion for Stay” on July 19, 2016. The
“Motion” seeks to stay all pending Motions to
Dismiss and to Strike so that plaintiff may give notice to
“now properly named” John Doe defendants and they
can be served with process.[2] He anticipates that it is likely
that these newly served defendants will wish to file their
own Motions to Dismiss and to Strike and opines that it will
conserve judicial resources to have all of these motions
heard at one time. Plaintiff did not set a hearing date for
this Motion.
Attached
to the “Motion” are emails reflecting that
plaintiff did attempt to get agreement to this stay from
opposing counsel, but they were unwilling to stipulate since
plaintiff refused to include his Motion for Preliminary
Injunction and Appointment of a Receiver in the stay. As
should be clear from a reading of Local Rule 230, excerpted
above, the Court does not hear Motions that are neither
noticed nor properly scheduled for hearing. To have the Court
address Plaintiff’s request for stay will require that
he calendar and notice the motion properly to some future
date. The properly noticed and calendared Motions to Dismiss
and to Strike will, therefore, be the only matters heard at
the hearing on August 4, 2016.
In
light of the foregoing, the Court hereby Orders as follows:
1. The Clerk of the Court shall remove the Plaintiff’s
Motion for Preliminary Injunction and to Appoint a Receiver
from the Court’s August 5, 2016 calendar;
2. Any further motions filed in this matter shall be noticed
and filed in accordance with the requirements of Local Rule
230.
IT IS
SO ORDERED.
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