Bennett v. Cuomo

Background The order followed a telephone conference concerning fact-discovery disputes in Charlotte Bennett’s case against Andrew M. Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa, Jill Desrosiers, and Judith Mogul. The opinion identifies Sarah L. Cave as the United States Magistrate Judge.

Rulings on Discovery Requests The court denied as moot Bennett’s request for a briefing schedule concerning an anticipated motion to compel compliance with a deposition subpoena directed to nonparty Madeline Cuomo. The court ordered Madeline Cuomo to sit for a deposition after the parties’ depositions and before June 30, 2024. The deposition is limited to two hours on the record and to questioning about the period from February 27, 2021, through September 14, 2022.

The court denied without prejudice Madeline Cuomo’s requests that Bennett pay the attorneys’ fees associated with the deposition and that the deposition transcript be designated confidential. Those requests may be renewed after the deposition.

The court denied as moot Andrew Cuomo’s letter-motion challenging confidentiality designations and the sealing of seven redacted video recordings produced by Bennett. It denied without prejudice Cuomo’s request to seek costs associated with filing that letter-motion, allowing renewal if appropriate after fact discovery closes.

The court denied Bennett’s request to file a motion to compel concerning Cuomo’s responses to Requests for Production Nos. 52 and 70. Cuomo was not required to respond further or produce documents in response to those requests.

Redactions and Further Proceedings The court overruled Cuomo’s objections to Bennett’s alleged relevance and privacy redactions, stating that no party had shown at that time that such redactions were warranted.

The court scheduled a telephone conference for April 2, 2024, to discuss Cuomo’s request for an order requiring the re-imaging of Bennett’s cellphone or cellphones, scheduling the parties’ depositions, and Bennett’s redactions based on non-responsiveness. Parties seeking to be heard were required to file letters of no more than five pages by March 28, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. The court also directed the parties to continue meeting and conferring and required Cuomo to email twelve examples for private judicial review if the dispute over non-responsiveness redactions remained unresolved. The court stated that it should not be expected to rule at the April 2 conference on matters not raised in the letters. It also directed the parties to promptly order and file a transcript of the March 22 conference. The Clerk was directed to close ECF Nos. 214, 215, and 216.