Free Memorandum - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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LAW OFFICES SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. 1300 ABACUS TOWERS 3030 NORTH THIRD STREET PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85012-3099 TELEPHONE (602) 532-5600 FACSIMILE (602) 532-5700

J. Steven Sparks (State Bar No. 015561) SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. 3030 North Third Street, Suite 1300 Phoenix, Arizona 85012-3099 Telephone: (602) 532-5769 Fax: (602) 230-5051 [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants GLENDALE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 205, TANYA SOTO, STEVE SOTO, ANNIE PRESTON, KEITH PRESTON, CLAY KLAVITTER and JILL KLAVITTER UNITED STATED DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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JOE RAMIREZ and ANA RAMIREZ, Individually and as Parents and Legal Guardians of JOSE RAMIREZ, Plaintiffs,

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vs. GLENDALE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 205; JOHN DOE AND JANE DOE I-X; ABC CORPORATIONS I-X; and XYZ PARTNERSHIPS I-X, Defendants. __________________________________ JOE RAMIREZ and ANA RAMIREZ, Individually and as Parents and Legal Guardians of JOSE RAMIREZ, Plaintiffs, vs. GLENDALE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 205; TANYA SOTO and
Case 2:03-cv-00060-ROS Document 111

) CASE NO.: CIV03-0060 PHX-ROS ) ) ) DEFENDANTS' MEMORANDUM ) RE "DISCOVERY DISPUTE" ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
Filed 03/07/2006 Page 1 of 4

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LAW OFFICES SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. 1300 ABACUS TOWERS 3030 NORTH THIRD STREET PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85012-3099 TELEPHONE (602) 532-5600 FACSIMILE (602) 532-5700

JOHN DOE SOTO; ANNIE PRESTON and JOHN DOE PRESTON; CLAY KLAVITTER and JANE DOE KLAVITTER; JOHN DOE AND JANE DOE I-X; ABC CORPORATIONS I-X; and XYZ PARTNERSHIPS I-X,

) ) ) ) ) ) ) Defendants. ) ___________________________________ )
Defendants believe that there is no discovery dispute and that Plaintiffs' request for a

telephone conference is without merit. Plaintiffs apparently believe that there are three issues for the telephone conference that is scheduled to take place on March 8, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Each of these issues will be addressed below. 1. Handwritten notes of investigation. Plaintiffs claim that Defendants have

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withheld a set of original notes taken by Defendant Annie Preston near the time Plaintiffs first came forward with their claims that Jose Ramirez had been assaulted. Plaintiffs are wrong

inasmuch as: (a) Defendants produced all existing notes on January 17, 2005 and again

January 27, 2006. No notes were ever withheld. (b) The notes do not describe the alleged incident because the interviews of

the alleged perpetrators were essentially worthless due to their inability to communicate. Also, Plaintiff's teacher, Tanya Soto, had no knowledge of the alleged incident until six
months later when Plaintiffs reported it and the teacher's aide, Dominic Guzman, was

never interviewed. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Preston's notes do not
contain any substantive description of their individual accounts.

(c)

Defendants have repeatedly told Plaintiffs' counsel that they produced all of the

notes known to be in existence in January, 2005. If there were ever any original notes of those interviews, they are simply no longer in existence. If asked, Ms. Preston would testify that she does not recall whether she took original handwritten notes or, if so, what happened to them. Regardless, Ms. Preston will attest to the fact that the three pages of typewritten notes that were
Case 2:03-cv-00060-ROS Document 111 -2 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 2 of 4

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LAW OFFICES SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. 1300 ABACUS TOWERS 3030 NORTH THIRD STREET PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85012-3099 TELEPHONE (602) 532-5600 FACSIMILE (602) 532-5700

disclosed 15 months ago contain an accurate recitation of the events that took place in March, 2001 when Plaintiffs first reported this alleged incident. 2. Dominic Guzman

Plaintiffs suggest that Defendants have intentionally withheld information about Dominic Guzman. This is untrue. Defendants have conceded that they probably could have acquired Mr. Guzman's contact information more quickly, but the evidence was not intentionally withheld. More to the point, Defendants have fully disclosed Mr. Guzman's information and his deposition has been scheduled ­ without objection from Defendants, even though discovery is closed. Plaintiffs will have an opportunity to depose Mr. Guzman and ask him all about his departure from the District and his knowledge of the alleged incident. Given these facts, there is no issue to be discussed with the Court concerning Dominic Guzman. 3. Additional Discovery Despite Plaintiffs' suspicions about Dominic Guzman's departure from the District, the

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evidence will show that he left his employment voluntarily and that his departure had absolutely nothing to do with the alleged incident. Nevertheless, Plaintiffs' discovery requests were served long after the discovery cutoff. Defendants are trying to be mindful and respectful of this Court's deadlines by not engaging in discovery absent further court order. While defense counsel initially stated that Defendants would respond to the discovery, he later changed his position due to (1) the fact that the discovery was untimely and (2) growing weary of Plaintiffs' counsel's continued gamesmanship and false accusations of misconduct.

RESPECTFULLY submitted this 2nd day of March, 2006. SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. By: s/J. Steven Sparks J. Steven Sparks 3030 N. Third Street, Suite 1300 Phoenix, Arizona 85012-3099 Attorneys for Defendants

Case 2:03-cv-00060-ROS

Document 111 -3

Filed 03/07/2006

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LAW OFFICES SANDERS & PARKS, P.C. 1300 ABACUS TOWERS 3030 NORTH THIRD STREET PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85012-3099 TELEPHONE (602) 532-5600 FACSIMILE (602) 532-5700

I hereby certify that on March 7, 2006, I electronically transmitted the foregoing document to the Clerk's office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following EM/ECF Registrants: [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiffs To be hand-delivered as a courtesy hard copy on March 7, 2006, to the Honorable Roslyn O. Silver. s/ J. Steven Sparks

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Case 2:03-cv-00060-ROS

Document 111 -4

Filed 03/07/2006

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