Judge: Richard S. Whitney, Case: 37-2022-00014529-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2023-10-13 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - October 11, 2023

10/13/2023  10:30:00 AM  C-68 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Richard S. Whitney

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Civil - Unlimited  PI/PD/WD - Other Discovery Hearing 37-2022-00014529-CU-PO-CTL FAN VS THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED:

TENTATIVE RULING: DEFENDANT THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA'S MOTION TO COMPEL PLAINTIFF TO FURTHER RESPOND AND COMPLY WITH ITS REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION / DEMAND FOR INSPECTION, SET TWO is DENIED.

Defendant THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ('The Regents' or 'Defendant') seeks to compel production to Defendant's Requests for Production and Demand for Inspection Nos. 31 and 32, which seek production of any and all cell phones and laptops used by Aaron Fan at the time of his passing and in the two years before his passing, including any passwords needed to open the devices. Plaintiff XIAOCONG FAN ('Plaintiff') objected because the requests are too broad.

The Court agrees the requests are clearly overbroad on their face. While the Court understands Defendant is attempting to understand the state of mind of Aaron Fan prior to his death and to identify potential witnesses, the requests are so broad that they would undoubtedly include information that is wholly irrelevant and would violate privacy rights. Presumably understanding that the Court would not permit such broad requests, Defendant suggested in its separate statement and the moving papers that the request could be narrowed to the following information: All communications and social media activity from the date of the incident and the date prior to the incident; All communications in the six months before the incident referencing UCSD, university, school, Tioga, window, alcohol, drink, drunk, smoke, marijuana, drugs, party, upset, sad, trouble, and anything else indicative of drinking, smoking, depression, negative thoughts, or issues at UCSD; All data reflecting the decedent's mental state in the weeks leading up to the incident; All communications to and from the decedent regarding the prior UCSD housing violation; All communications to and from any University employee; and All data reflecting the decedent's location on the date of the incident.

Plaintiff responded in a meet-and-confer email, asking for clarification and offering to provide an extension of time for a motion to compel. Defendant did not respond and filed this motion instead.

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3001282 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE:  FAN VS THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA  37-2022-00014529-CU-PO-CTL Defendant explains, in its reply, the failure to timely respond and that the parties continued to meet and confer. Ultimately, the parties failed to resolve the issues as Plaintiff did not explain its failure to agree to the narrowing suggested by Defendant.

The Court finds Defendant prematurely filed this motion before the parties could come to an agreement to narrow the requests. It is unclear why Plaintiff has not agreed to the limitations suggested by Defendant. However, as written, Defendant's Requests for Production and Demand for Inspection Nos.

31 and 32 are too broad. While suggesting the propounding of new discovery that would narrow the requests would be futile, Defendant fails to cite any authority that this Court may alter the language of the original requests.

The Court denies the motion as it cannot compel Plaintiff to respond to requests that were not made.

The Court encourages the parties to continue meeting and conferring to come to an agreement that narrows the requests. The Court notes that it believes Defendant's suggested search terms and parameters are reasonable. Plaintiff is strongly advised to not waste the time and resources of the parties and this Court by resisting further discovery efforts to obtain the information Defendant seeks, especially in light of Defendant's willingness to narrow the requests and to pay for the costs of the forensic inspection. Considering this warning, the Court would very likely award sanctions against Plaintiff if Plaintiff continues to resist Defendant's efforts to obtain more narrowly tailored discovery requests.

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