Giovanni McDowell v. Steve Smith, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California denied Giovanni McDowell’s motion for issuance of a subpoena duces tecum because he had not first sought the documents from Defendants through discovery or moved to compel production. The court directed the Clerk of Court to send Plaintiff a one-time courtesy copy of specified exhibits attached to his original complaint.

Holdings

1. A pro se prisoner seeking a subpoena for documents from a nonparty must first establish that the documents are not equally available to him and cannot be obtained from Defendants through a request for production; if Defendants object, the required next step is a motion to compel. Because Plaintiff had not shown that he followed those steps, the motion for issuance of a subpoena was denied.
2. Although the subpoena motion was denied, the court directed the Clerk to send Plaintiff a one-time courtesy copy of the specified exhibits attached to his complaint.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff was entitled to issuance of a subpoena duces tecum for grievances attached to his original complaint without first seeking the documents from Defendants through ordinary discovery procedures.
2. Whether the court should provide Plaintiff a courtesy copy of the grievance exhibits attached to his complaint.

Disposition

other