Dawes v. The People of the State of California
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- On appeal
- Dawes v. Ausbury (2026-07-31) — affirmed — the Ninth Circuit's later ruling on this docket
- Panel
- Michael M. Anello (author)
Analysis
Defendants filed a status report requesting a further stay of the civil proceedings due to ongoing related criminal litigation involving the plaintiff's competency. The court granted the request and extended the stay of proceedings through August 16, 2024.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Motion to extend stay of proceedings granted“Accordingly, the Court ORDERS this action stayed through August 16, 2024.” | agree with court The court applied the factors from Keating v. Office of Thrift Supervision to determine that a stay was appropriate. The order recites that no party will suffer prejudice and that the pending criminal proceedings may impact the civil claims. This follows the standard discretionary analysis for stays in related litigation. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the relevant legal standard for a stay in related criminal and civil proceedings and applies it to the facts presented in the status report. It addresses the key factors of prejudice and the impact of the criminal case on the civil claims.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 WILLIAM DAWES, Case No. 19-cv-2122-MMA (WVG)
12 Plaintiff, ORDER EXTENDING STAY OF 13 vs. PROCEEDINGS 14 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF [Doc. No. 82] CALIFORNIA, et al. 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff William Dawes, a California inmate proceeding pro se, brings this civil 19 rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendants Bravo, Gene, Ugalde, 20 Ausbury, Silva, Shellano, Ayala, Solis, and Zuniga. See Doc. No. 13. The parties 21 previously moved to stay these proceedings for a period of six months pending the 22 outcome of related criminal proceedings in state court. See Doc. No. 68; see also S.D. 23 Sup. Ct. No. SCS287189. The Court agreed and extended the stay through February 16, 24 2024. See Doc. No. 69. 25 Defendants have filed a Status Report advising the Court that a further stay is 26 warranted due to continued litigation in Plaintiff’s pending criminal proceedings, 27 including issues regarding Plaintiff’s competency. See Doc. No. 82. Upon due 28 consideration of the supporting declaration of defense counsel and the relevant factors set 1 || forth in Keating v. Office of Thrift Supervision, 45 F.3d 322, 324-25 (9th Cir. 1995), the 2 Court finds that a further stay of this action is appropriate. Neither Plaintiff, Defendant, 3 ||nor any interested third parties will suffer prejudice because of an extension of the stay of 4 || proceedings in this Court. As the Court previously noted, proceedings related to 5 || Plaintiff's criminal charges may impact certain claims and issues in this action. 6 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS this action stayed through August 16, 2024. 7 || The Court further ORDERS Defendants to submit a status report no later than five (5) 8 court days prior to the expiration of the stay advising the Court regarding the related 9 || criminal proceedings and indicating whether circumstances warrant a further stay of these 10 proceedings. After consideration of the report, the Court will decide whether to lift the 11 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 Dated: February 13, 2024 14 16 United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28