Doan v. Phoenix, City of

1 WO [5] 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA [8] 9 Danny Chu Doan, No. CV-25-01995-PHX-JJT 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 City of Phoenix, et al., 13 Defendants. [15] 16 At issue are several unresolved motions flooding the docket due to a high volume 17 of filings occurring weekly. To reduce confusion and delay caused by this overactive 18 docket, the Court will now resolve all pending motions related to the sealing and redaction 19 of documents, service upon Defendant Rogers, and miscellaneous filings from Plaintiff. 20 I. Sealing and Redaction of Documents on Docket 21 Plaintiff most recently filed his Notice of Compliance with Doc. 115 and Request 22 for Clarification (Doc. 117), in which he alerts the Court that the original exhibit (Doc. 23 106-1) with sensitive information has not been sealed from public access. Plaintiff is 24 correct, and the Court will make the appropriate orders herein. Importantly, though, docket 25 entry 106-1 includes Defendant Bolin’s second and third exhibit lumped under that same 26 docket entry, not just the offending first exhibit. And the redacted version created by 27 Defendant Bolin and currently filed at docket entry 116 does not include his second and 28 third exhibits. To complete the record, Defendant Bolin must file the unredacted second 1 and third exhibits originally attached to his Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss within 2 seven days of this Order. 3 Also pending is Plaintiff’s Motion to Seal Docket 78 and Substitute Redacted 4 Version (“Motion to Seal”) (Doc. 79). As relevant here, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5 5.2(a) permits Plaintiff to redact the month and day of an individual’s birthday and a 6 minor’s name except for the initials. It is Plaintiff’s responsibility to redact this information 7 from his filings. Failure to do so amounts to a waiver of redaction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(h). 8 Plaintiff has made similar omissions before. (Doc. 45.) Now, Plaintiff has forgotten, once 9 again, to redact personal information from a filing and moves to seal the original document. 10 That personal information includes his birthday, inmate number, the birthday and address 11 of his daughters. (See Doc. 78 at 17-20, 22.) 12 In the Ninth Circuit, courts “start with a strong presumption in favor of access to 13 court records.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 14 2016) (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 15 2003)). “In order to overcome this strong presumption, a party seeking to seal a judicial 16 record must articulate justifications for sealing that outweigh the historical right of access 17 and the public policies favoring disclosure.” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 18 F.3d 1172 , 1178–79 (9th Cir. 2006). Where a document is “more than tangentially related 19 to the merits” of a case, the party seeking to seal the document must demonstrate 20 “compelling reasons to keep the documents under seal.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 21 1103. 22 The personal information at issue is in exhibits that Plaintiff filed in support of his 23 Motion for Default. (Docs. 76, 78.) Undoubtedly, Plaintiff’s default motion and related 24 exhibits are more than tangentially related to the merits of this matter, and Plaintiff must 25 demonstrate compelling reasons to justify keeping the documents under seal. See 26 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. v. KXD Tech., Inc., 347 F. App’x 275 , 276 (9th Cir. 27 2009) (stating that default judgment is “case dispositive”); La. Pac. Corp. v. Money Mkt. 1 28 Institutional Inv. Dealer, Case No. 09-cv-03529-JSW, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19542 , 2013 1 WL 550563 , at *1 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 12, 2013) (applying the “compelling reasons” standard 2 to a motion to seal portions of the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment). Compelling 3 reasons exist “when such court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes, 4 such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous 5 statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (citation and internal 6 quotation marks omitted). 7 Plaintiff shows no compelling reasons for sealing the designated information. First, 8 Plaintiff has already listed his daughters’ names and birthdays himself in other filings that 9 are accessible to the public. (See, e.g., Docs. 69, 77.) Plaintiff has also mentioned multiple 10 times that he is his daughters’ sole caretaker and has included his own address in filings on 11 the docket. Second, Plaintiff’s inmate number is a matter of public record and can be 12 accessed on the Arizona Department of Corrections website at any time. The fact that this 13 Court found good cause to redact his inmate number earlier does not mean there is a 14 compelling reason to do so now. (See Doc. 51.) See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180 (“A ‘good 15 cause’ showing will not, without more, satisfy a ‘compelling reasons’ test.”). Third, 16 Plaintiff’s failure to redact his own birthday amounts to a waiver under the Federal Rules 17 of Civil Procedure, and several documents already filed on the docket by Plaintiff himself 18 contain his birthday. Accordingly, the Court will deny the motion. 19 II. Service Upon Defendant Rogers 20 Turning to service issues, Plaintiff has requested that he be permitted to serve 21 Defendant Rogers by alternative means and to extend the time to serve Defendant Rogers. 22 (Docs. 93, 99.) Plaintiff has been unable to locate Defendant Rogers despite contacting 23 GEO Group, a private prison facility that employed Mr. Rogers some years ago. (See 24 Doc. 43 at 5; Doc. 49 at 1–3.) GEO Group informed Plaintiff that they had no contact 25 information for Defendant Rogers. (Doc. 66-1 at 3; see also Doc. 93 at 2.) Plaintiff now 26 requests permission to serve Defendant Rogers by the following alternative methods: (1) 27 service by certified mail or email provided that the Court orders GEO to lodge under seal 28 any last-known address or email for Defendant Rogers; or (2) service by publication. (Doc. 1 93 at 3.) Plaintiff further requests a sixty-day extension of time to serve Defendant Rogers. 2 (Doc. 99 at 3.) 3 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e)(1), an individual may be served in this 4 District by following Arizona state law for service. Under both Federal and Arizona law, 5 the primary means of service are personal delivery, delivery to a person of suitable age and 6 discretion who resides at the defendant’s abode, and delivery upon an authorized agent. 7 Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(2), (h)(1); Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4.1(d), (i). Where service by the means 8 described above is “impracticable,” Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 4.1(k)(1) provides 9 that the Court may “order that service may be accomplished in another manner,” including 10 by publication. Any alternative method of service, including by publication, must also 11 comport with constitutional notions of due process. Rio Props., Inc. v. Rio Int’l Interlink, [12] 284 F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th Cir. 2002). “To meet this requirement, the method of service 13 crafted by the district court must be ‘reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to 14 apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to 15 present their objections.’” Id. (quoting Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 16 U.S. 306 , 314 (1950)). A court may permit service by publication if the serving party is 17 unable to determine the person’s current address despite reasonably diligent efforts, service 18 by publication is the best means practicable under the circumstances, and the motion is 19 support by the serving party’s affidavit setting forth their reasonably diligent efforts to 20 serve the person. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4.1(l)(1). 21 Here, the Court already deemed the primary means of service impracticable such 22 that some form of alternative service is appropriate. (Doc. 41 at 3.) As Plaintiff himself 23 reports, he does not know Defendant Rogers’ current place of work, nor does GEO Group 24 have any contact information for Defendant Rogers. Ordering GEO Group to file under 25 seal information that does not exist is futile. 26 The only remaining alternative method for service is by publication, but Plaintiff 27 has not complied with the requirements to request the same. Specifically, Plaintiff must 28 support his motion “by affidavit that sets forth the serving party’s reasonably diligent 1 efforts to serve the person.” Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4.1(l)(1)(C); Sprang v. Petersen Lumber, Inc., [2] 165 Ariz. 257, 261 (Ariz. App. 1990). An affidavit may be sworn or unsworn, so long as it 3 complies with Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 80. Here, nothing in Plaintiff’s Renewed 4 Motion for Alternative Service can be construed as an affidavit, sworn or unsworn, that 5 complies with these Rules. 6 The Court notes that nothing prohibits Plaintiff from initiating the service by 7 publication procedure set forth in Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 4(l)(2). The only 8 function that this Court’s approval serves, whether obtained prior to or during the 9 publication procedure, is to deem service by publication a sufficient means of service as to 10 Defendant Rogers under Federal and Arizona law. The Court cannot do so here. 11 Plaintiff separately requests this Court to extend time to effect service upon 12 Defendant Rogers. Plaintiff having shown good cause that more time is needed, the Court 13 will grant Plaintiff’s request in part and provide Plaintiff an additional thirty days from the 14 date this Order is entered to serve Defendant Rogers. 15 III. Miscellaneous Filings 16 This matter is still in its infancy. No responsive pleadings have been filed to 17 Plaintiff’s Second Amended Compliant because multiple pre-answer motions remain 18 pending. These motions include Defendant Bolin’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 100), 19 Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment as to Defendant Thiem (Doc. 76), Defendant 20 Thiem’s Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment (Doc. 83), and a slew of related Motions 21 to Strike (Docs. 85, 94, 102). These motions have been fully briefed or the time to respond 22 or reply has passed. 23 The Court intends to resolve these pending issues so this matter can proceed to the 24 next stage of litigation. But the Court is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of filings from 25 Plaintiff, which include a Motion for Leave to Search Early Subpoenas on Non-Party 26 Witnesses (Doc. 80), a Notice of Intent for Substitution of Party and Preservation of 27 Claims1 (Doc. 109), and a Motion for Sanctions, Protective Relief, and Request for Default [28] 1 While titled a “Notice,” Plaintiff requests relief therein and attaches a proposed order. 1 Judgment or Settlement Conference (Doc. 110). Each are frivolous at this juncture, and the 2 Court denies them. 3 Plaintiff shall not file any motions, notices, declarations, exhibits, or other 4 documents in this matter until further order of this Court, unless it is one of the following: 5 (1) an affidavit of service upon Defendant Rogers, if service is made in the time provided 6 above; or (2) a motion for alternative service by publication upon Defendant Rogers 7 comporting with Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 4.1. 8 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED granting in part and denying in part Plaintiff’s 9 Motion to Extend Time to Serve Defendant Rogers (Doc. 99). Plaintiff shall have an 10 additional thirty (30) days following the date this Order to serve Defendant Rogers. 11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED granting Plaintiff’s Notice of Compliance with Doc. 12 115 and Request for Clarification (Doc. 117). 13 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED directing the Clerk of Court to: (1) seal the filing 14 located at docket entry 106-1; and (2) unseal the filing located at docket entry 116. 15 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Bolin shall file the unredacted 16 versions of the second and third exhibits that were originally attached to Defendant Bolin’s 17 Reply to Response to Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 106) within seven days from the date of this 18 Order. 19 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED denying Plaintiff’s Motion to Seal Docket No. 78 20 and Substitute Redacted Version (Doc. 79), Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Search Early 21 Subpoenas on Non-Party Witnesses (Doc. 80), Renewed Motion for Alternative Service 22 on Defendant Rogers (Doc. 93), Notice of Intent for Substitution of Party and Preservation 23 of Claims (Doc. 109), and Motion for Sanctions, Protective Relief, and Request for Default 24 Judgment or Settlement Conference (Doc. 110). 25 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, until further order of the Court, Plaintiff shall 26 not file any motions, notices, declarations, exhibits, or other documents in this matter 27 unless the document is one of the following: (1) an affidavit of service upon Defendant 28 Rogers, if service is made in the time provided above; or (2) a motion for alternative service || by publication upon Defendant Rogers comporting with Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 4.1. 3 Dated this 26th day of September, 2025. CN 4 “wok: Unie States#District Judge [28] -7-