Free Status Report - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1 :04-cv-01391-JJF Docu A 0 Filed 08/16/2007 Page 1 of 2 ‘
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Fuéqgaa sqgézgqq S400 ·
JOSEPH R. B¤¤E~. M a¤"~ES¥t$QiLfN%3%°lEtET °'“'L§’l§’.‘a2, éylaay g
ATTORNEY GENERAL WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19801 Tl-Y (302) 577·57B3
August 16, 2007 `
Via Electronic Delivery
The Honorable Mary Pat Thynge
U.S. District Court
844 N. King Street
Lock Box 8 `
Wilmington, DE 19801
RE: Ward v. Taylor, et al, C.A. No. O4—]391-***
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Dear Judge Thynge:

Pursuant to the Court’s Order of March 14, 2007 (D.l. 61), please allow this to I
serve as the State Defendants’/Third Party Plaintiffs’ interim status report in the above q
matter. A status teleconference ts set for Thursday August 23, 2007 ot 8:30 dm.
As Your Honor may recall, this is a claim by a former inmate, Timothy Ward,
against certain employees of the Department of Correction ("State Defendants"), alleging
Eighth Amendment violations for failure to protect and inadequate medical care, arising
out of an assault on Ward by another inmate. The State Defendants filed a Third-Party
Complaint against the Department of Correction’s former medical provider, First
Correctional Medical, lnc. (FCM).
Discovery has taken place in this case as follows.
1. Plaintiff propounded Interrogatories, Requests for Production and Requests for
Admissions to State Defendants on January 26, 2007. State Defendants responded to all
discovery, including the production of 81 pages of documents, on February 28, 2007 and
123 pages on July ll, 2007. This is in addition to tl1e_427 pages of doctunents produced
pursuant to the State Defendants’ initial disclosures.
2. State Defendants propounded Interrogatories and Requests for Production l
upon Plaintiff on May 2, 2007. Despite several requests to counsel for Plaintiff] Plointyjf I
hosfoiled to file responses to these discovery requests.
3. State Defendants propounded lnterrogatories and Requests for Production
upon Third-party Defendant, FCM, on May 2, 2007. Despite several requests to counsel
for FCM, FCM hqsfatled tofile responses to these discovery requests.
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Case 1 :04-cv-01391-JJF Document 70 Filed 08/16/2007 Page 2 of 2
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4. Tlnrd-party Defendant, FCM, has not engaged in any discovery rn this matter
with any other party. E ‘
5. No depositions have been taken or noticed by any party. I
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6. State Defendants supplemented Initial Disclosures on August 7, 2007 and will I
do so again shortly. I
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7. Discovery cut-off is September 28, 2007 per the Court’s Order of March 14, -
2007 (D.I. 61). State Defendants oppose any extension of this date.

State Defendants note that a Mediation Conference is scheduled in this matter for
September 18, 2007. (D.I. 62). In light of the absence of discovery responses from, and
the lack of an affirmative discovery record by Plaintiff, State Defendants are not in a
position to attribute any monetary value to this case at this time. Therefore, Defendants
respectfully request that the mediation conference in this matter be removed from the
Court’s calendar. If the Court wishes this request to be made formally, under separate I
cover, Defendants will certainly do so. _
State Defendants plan to move for summary judgment in this case. Case
dispositive motions and opening briefs must be filed by October 31, 2007 per the `
Amended Scheduling Order. (D.I. 61).
If the Court has any questions, counsel stands ready to respond at the Court’s
convenience.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Stephani J. Ballard _
Stephani J. Ballard
Deputy Attorney General
cc: Jeffrey K. Martin, Esquire (via CM/ECF) il
Daniel McKenty, Esquire (via CM/ECF)
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