Opinion
2:19-cv-1630 MCE DB P
10-31-2023
COLTON JAMES ROOD, Plaintiff, v. SHASTA COUNTY JAIL MEDICAL STAFF et al., Defendants.
ORDER
DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights action seeking relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Presently before the court is plaintiff's fourth motion for an extension of time to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 45.) For the reasons stated below, the court will grant the motion.
I. Background
On January 31, 2023, the court issued an order finding that plaintiff's second amended complaint stated cognizable Eighth Amendment claims against defendants Mason, Von German, and Decker. (ECF No. 34.) Plaintiff was granted the option to proceed on the second amended complaint as screened or to file an amended complaint. (Id.) Plaintiff notified the court that he wished to amend the complaint. (ECF No. 39.)
Plaintiff sought, and the court granted, three extensions of time to file the amended complaint. (ECF Nos. 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 43.) In his third motion for an extension of time, he stated that he had been hospitalized several times, that he had been moved to a new location, and that, consequently, he did not have access to documents he needed to prepare an amended complaint. (ECF No. 42.) The court granted plaintiff sixty days to file a third amended complaint and advised plaintiff that “[a]bsent extraordinary circumstances, no further extension of time will be granted for this purpose.” (ECF No. 43 at 2.)
II. Plaintiff's fourth motion for an extension of time
Plaintiff filed the instant motion on October 23, 2023. (ECF No. 45.) In it, he states that he received the legal documents referenced in his third motion for an extension of time in September. (Id. at 1.) Shortly thereafter, he was moved again and waited “several weeks” to have his property returned to him. (Id.) He was then moved a third time and just recently received his property. (Id.)
Under the prison mailbox rule, a document is deemed served or filed on the date a prisoner signs the document and gives it to prison officials for mailing. See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988) (establishing the prison mailbox rule); Campbell v. Henry, 614 F.3d 105, 1059 (9th Cir. 2010) (applying the mailbox rule to both state and federal filings by incarcerated inmates).
Motions for an extension of time are governed by Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1258 (9th Cir. 2010). That rule provides:
When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time:
(A) with or without motion or notice if the court acts, or if a request is made, before the original time or its extension expires; or
(B) on motion made after the time has expired if the party failed to act because of excusable neglect.Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1). “[R]equests for extensions of time made before the applicable deadline has passed should ‘normally . . . be granted in the absence of bad faith on the part of the party seeking relief or prejudice to the adverse party.'” Ahanchian, 624 F.3d at 1259.
The court finds good cause to grant plaintiff's motion. Plaintiff was directed to file a third amended complaint on or before October 23, 2023. (See ECF No. 43.) The instant motion is therefore timely. There is no indication of bad faith on plaintiff's part, and defendants should not be prejudiced, as there is no operative complaint in this action and defendants have yet to be served.
The court will grant him sixty days to file a third amended complaint. Absent extraordinary circumstances, no further extensions of time will be granted for this purpose.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 45) is granted;
2. Within sixty days of the date of this order, plaintiff shall file a third amended complaint;
3. Absent extraordinary circumstances, no further extensions of time will be granted for this purpose; and
4. Failure to comply with this order will result in a recommendation that this action be dismissed.