Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 22STCV30916, Date: 2024-08-01 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV30916    Hearing Date: August 1, 2024    Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27 

PITCHESS MOTION

Hearing Date: 8/1/24 

CASE NO./NAME: 22STCV30916 HORACIO GALVAN vs CAESAR VALIENTE, et al.

Moving Party: Plaintiff 

Responding Party: County of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department

Notice: Sufficient¿ 

Ruling: PITCHESS MOTION IS CONTINUED

On June 3, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Pitchess motion seeking discovery of Officer Valiente's personnel records from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. On July 2, 2024, the Court denied the motion without prejudice for failing to attach a copy of the police record to the motion. On July 3, Plaintiff filed a renewed Pitchess motion, scheduled to be heard on August 1, 2024.

On January 30, 2024, the Court, pursuant to the Joint Stipulation of All Parties, ordered that the trial date, originally scheduled for March 20, 2024, be continued to August 26, 2024. All pre-trial deadlines, including those for discovery, motions, and experts, were also continued to align with the new trial date. On July 22, 2024, the Court issued a minute order that continued the trial date from August 26, 2024, to October 18, 2024, due to an emergency court closure. However, the Court did not specify that all pretrial deadlines are to be continued and follow the new trial date. Typically, the reopening of fact discovery is accomplished either through stipulation or via a motion to reopen discovery. The current discovery cutoff date of July 26, 2024, has already passed.

Plaintiff does not contest that fact discovery is currently closed but argues that Defendant filed a Motion to Continue Trial and All Trial-Related Dates, including continuing the discovery cutoff, scheduled to be heard on August 12, 2024. Plaintiff would be prejudiced if his Pitchess Motion were denied on the grounds that it seeks discovery after the discovery cutoff, only to have the discovery cutoff extended by the Court thereafter. The Court agrees and by the same logic, the present motion would be moot if the Court were to deny Defendant’s motion to continue the trial and discovery cut off date. Therefore, the Court continues the present motion to August 12, 2024, to be heard on the same day as Defendant’s motion to continue trial.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:

If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept27@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.

Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.

If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave.