Kennedy v. County of Contra Costa

Nature of the Order

This amended pretrial order followed a further case-management conference. It addressed discovery, summary-judgment scheduling, trial scheduling, and the parties’ required pretrial submissions. It did not decide the merits of the claims.

Discovery Ruling

The court denied Johl Jonathan Kennedy’s motion to compel responses to interrogatories. The stated reason was that the interrogatories were served well after the fact-discovery deadline.

Summary Judgment

The court set May 6, 2021, as the deadline for a motion for summary judgment; June 3, 2021, for the opposition; and June 17, 2021, for the reply. The hearing was scheduled for July 8, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. The order explained that summary judgment under Rule 56 may end the case if there is no genuine dispute about a material fact, and advised the plaintiff that opposing evidence would be required to show a real factual dispute.

Trial and Pretrial Schedule

The court scheduled a jury trial to begin December 6, 2021, at 8:30 a.m., with an expected length of no more than five court days. A final pretrial conference was scheduled for November 18, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. At least seven days before that conference, the parties were required to meet and confer and file a jointly signed proposed final pretrial order, proposed jury instructions, any supporting memoranda for disputed instructions, proposed voir dire questions, trial briefs on controlling legal issues, proposed verdict forms, exhibit objections, and a simplified statement of the case.

The order also limited each party to five motions in limine, with specified briefing and filing deadlines. It provided detailed procedures for jury selection, witness disclosures, exhibits, charging conferences, courtroom equipment, and trial scheduling.

Disposition

The court denied the motion to compel and otherwise entered scheduling and trial-management requirements. No ruling was made on the parties’ underlying claims or defenses.