Colonies Partners, LP v. Cnty. of San Bernardino
Colonies Partners, LP v. Cnty. of San Bernardino
2020 WL 1491339 (C.D. Cal. 2020)
March 27, 2020
Bernal, Jesus G., United States Magistrate Judge
Summary
The Court granted Plaintiffs' Motion for an adverse jury instruction at trial, which presumes that the deleted ESI information from the mike@joinmikeramos.com e-mail account and text messages deleted after March 2018, was unfavorable to Plaintiffs. This sets a precedent for how ESI should be treated in court proceedings, and the Court will decide on the fee award for Plaintiffs' Motion for Sanctions.
Additional Decisions
COLONIES PARTNERS, L.P., et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al., Defendants
v.
COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al., Defendants
Case No. 5:18-cv-00420-JGB (SHK)
United States District Court, C.D. California
Filed March 27, 2020
Counsel
Erica R. Graves, Jonathan E. Phillips, Koren L. Bell, Steven E. Bledsoe, Steven A. Haskins, Stephen Gerard Larson, Larson O'Brien LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiffs Colonies Partners LP, Jeffrey S. Burum.Peter William Scalisi, Peter W. Scalisi Law Offices, Huntington Beach, CA, for Plaintiff Mark A. Kirk.
Rajan Ronald Maline, James Edward McGee, II, Maline and McGee LLP, Riverside, CA, for Plaintiff James Howard Erwin.
Dale K. Galipo, Law Offices of Dale Galipo, Woodland Hills, CA, for Plaintiff Paul Biane.
Darren Michael Harris, Spray Gould and Bowers LLP, Irvine, CA, for Plaintiff John Dino DeFazio.
Brian S. Ginter, Susan E. Coleman, Charles E. Slyngstad, Kyle Anne Piasecki, Burke Williams and Sorensen LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino County Flood Control District, Michael A. Ramos, R. Lewis Cope, James Hackleman, Hollis Bud Randles, Robert Schreiber.
Peter B. Schlueter, Schlueter Law Firm PC, Grand Terrace, CA, for Defendant Adam Aleman.
Bernal, Jesus G., United States Magistrate Judge
ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
*1 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Court has reviewed Plaintiffs’ Motion for Sanctions (“Motion”), Defendants’ Opposition to the Motion (“Opposition” or “Opp’n”), Plaintiffs’ Reply in Support of the Motion (“Reply”), the relevant records on file, and the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge (“R&R”). Electronic Case Filing Number (“ECF No.”) 249, Motion; ECF No. 263, Opp’n; ECF No. 266, Reply; ECF No. 305, R&R. No objections have been filed. The Court accepts the findings and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1) The R&R [ECF No. 305] is ADOPTED;
2) Plaintiffs’ Motion [ECF No. 249] is GRANTED insofar as Plaintiffs seek an adverse jury instruction at trial—that the jury may presume that the deleted ESI information from the mike@joinmikeramos.com e-mail account and text messages deleted after March 2018, was unfavorable to Plaintiffs—but DENIED insofar as Plaintiffs seek terminating sanctions;
3) Plaintiffs are AWARDED reasonable fees associated with bringing this Motion; and
4) Plaintiffs must submit their declaration and records in support of their fee award for the Court’s consideration within fourteen days of the date of this Order, Defendants shall file their Response within fourteen days of the filing of Plaintiffs’ submission, and Plaintiffs may file a Reply within seven days of Defendants’ Response, after which time the fee award will be decided on the papers.