United States v. $485

Background

The Government reported that the court had set deadlines for discovery, the pretrial exchange of information. Requests for documents and written questions were due by February 15, 2021, with responses due 60 days later. The Government served its requests on February 11, 2021, making the response deadline April 12, 2021. It said that Mr. Arena had not responded and had not asked the court to extend the deadlines. The Government also stated that it had not received discovery requests from Mr. Arena.

Mr. Arena sent a letter seeking at least 60 additional days to reply to what he described as the Government’s opposition to his claim. He cited the COVID-19 pandemic and limited access to the prison law library. The Government said the case did not then contain an opposition requiring a reply and argued that the letter did not explain why Mr. Arena could not provide documents or answers to the discovery requests.

Government’s Request

The Government asked the court to direct Mr. Arena to respond to its discovery requests by May 10, 2021. It also asked the court to warn that failure to respond could result in sanctions, including dismissal of his claim or entry of a default judgment.

Ruling

Judge Valerie E. Caproni granted the application. The court directed Mr. Arena to respond to the Government’s discovery requests no later than May 10, 2021. If he could not meet that deadline, he was required to write to the court requesting an extension and explaining why access to the law library was needed to answer the Government’s document requests and written questions. The court stated that failure to respond could lead to sanctions. It also stated that a motion schedule would be set on July 13, 2021, after discovery was completed.