Free Order on Appeal of Magistrate Judge Decision to District Court - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:03-cv-00281-WDM-MJW

Document 328

Filed 06/22/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO JUDGE WALKER D. MILLER Civil Action No. 03-cv-00281-WDM-MJW OLOYEA D. WALLIN, Plaintiff, v. MR. ALFARO, et al., Defendants.

ORDER ON RULE 72(a) OBJECTIONS Miller, J. This matter is before me on two objections filed by plaintiff Oloyea D. Wallin (Wallin) pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). Neither of the orders issued by Magistrate Judge Watanabe that are targeted by the objections concern dispositive matters. Thus, I will modify or set aside any portion of the orders only if I find them to be " clearly erroneous or contrary to law." Rule 72(a). 1. Objection to Order Denying Extension of Time to Submit Exhibits Wallin first challenges an October 27, 2005 Minute Order in which Magistrate Judge Watanabe denied his October 25, 2005 " Motion for Extension of Time to Submit
1 to Opposing Counsel Exhibits." In his motion, Wallin states that " good cause"for the

requested extension exists because opposing counsel had not responded to his

Wallin' motion was signed on October 20, 2005, but filed with the court s on October 25, 2005.

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submitted discovery request, which he expected to produce documents that he would use as exhibits at trial. Magistrate Judge Watanabe denied the motion on the ground that, as stated in the Final Pretrial Order, discovery in this case has been completed. Although the Final Pretrial Order, issued October 13, 2005, states that discovery is complete, Wallin asserts otherwise. He argues in his objection that his proposed version of the pretrial order listed outstanding discovery requests. This proposed version does not appear to be part of the court record, however. I also note that, on October 11, 2005, Wallin filed a motion to compel production of documents in response to a discovery request allegedly served on October 3, 2005. As Magistrate Judge Watanabe observed in his order denying the motion to compel without prejudice, the discovery requests were not attached to the motion to compel. Therefore, the existence of outstanding discovery cannot be confirmed. On the record before me, I must conclude that the October 27, 2005 minute order is not clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Wallin' objection will be overruled. s 2. Objection to Order Granting Motion for Protective Order Wallin next targets an October 31, 2005 minute order in which Magistrate Judge Watanabe granted defendants; motion for a protective order. In the minute order, Magistrate Judge Watanabe noted that discovery in this case was concluded on August 31, 2004. Based on that fact, and the entry of the Pretrial Order, he ruled that defendants need not respond to Wallin' Amended Production of Documents Request, s received by defendants on October 11, 2005. In his objection, Wallin asserts that discovery motions remained pending after 2

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August 31, 2004, through the issuance of my September 2, 2005 Order addressing Recommendations issued by Magistrate Judge Watanabe. In that Order, I found Wallin had produced no convincing evidence that the CCA Defendants were misrepresenting the truth when they asserted they never received the discovery requests at issue. Wallin still has not remedied that failure. In the absence of evidence that valid discovery requests were pending at the time of the discovery cut-off on August 31, 2004, and remained pending after my September 2, 2005 Order, I conclude Wallin has failed to demonstrate that the October 31, 2005 minute order is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. His objection will be overruled. Accordingly, it is ordered: 1. The objection to the October 27, 2005 minute order denying Wallin' motion for s extension of time, filed November 14, 2005 (Docket No. 300), is overruled. 2. The objection to the October 31, 2005 minute order granting defendants' motion for a protective order, filed November 14, 2005 (Docket No. 301), is overruled. DATED at Denver, Colorado, on June 22, 2006. BY THE COURT:

s/ Walker D. Miller United States District Judge

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