KENDALL J. NEWMAN, Magistrate Judge.
On March 30, 2012, this court granted in part, and denied in part, defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's 120-page First Amended Complaint. (
On June 22, 2012, defendants filed an interlocutory appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging the deferral of this court's consideration of defendants' qualified immunity defenses. On July 2, 2012, this court directed defendants to address whether their interlocutory appeal deprives this court of jurisdiction. Defendants timely filed a response, in which they concede that their appeal only partially divests this court of jurisdiction, specifically, over plaintiff's due process and First Amendment claims, which defendants have appealed on qualified immunity grounds, but not over plaintiff's Eighth Amendment and conspiracy claims, which defendants have not appealed. Nevertheless, defendants request a stay of this entire action in the district court pending a decision by the Court of Appeals, based on the "interrelated nature of the divested and remaining claims, [and to] . . . conserve judicial resources, the resources of the litigants, and prevent piecemeal litigation." (Dkt. No. 61 at 7.)
"[A]n appeal from an interlocutory order does not divest the trial court of jurisdiction to continue with other phases of the case."
A motion to stay unappealed aspects of an appealed order is ordinarily directed first to the district court. Fed. R. App. P. 8(a)(1)(A). "The authority to hold an order in abeyance pending review allows an appellate court to act responsibly."
In the present case, the court finds that a stay of the instant action in the district court, pending a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on defendants' interlocutory appeal, will promote the fairest resolution for all parties, without significant harm to any party. The court notes, however, that the very reasons offered by defendants in support of their request for a stay — i.e., the interrelated nature of plaintiff's claims, the conservation of judicial and litigant resources, and the prevention of piecemeal litigation — were the same reasons underlying this court's decision to authorize the further narrowed amendment of plaintiff's complaint before addressing the matters that defendants have now appealed. Because this court is required to construe, in the light most favorable to pro se prisoner plaintiffs, the allegations of often lengthy and difficult-to-decipher complaints against multiple defendants, this court determined that the fairer, and more efficient, course in the instant case was to accord plaintiff the opportunity to re-allege his narrowed claims in Second Amended Complaint, which defendants could then move to dismiss based, inter alia, on their further clarified qualified immunity defenses.
Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Defendants' request for a stay of this action (Dkt. No. 61), pending a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on defendants' interlocutory appeal, is granted.
2. This action is stayed until further order of this court.
3. Plaintiff's request for a stay, filed June 15, 2012 (Dkt. No. 56), which is construed as a request for relief from the court's order filed March 30, 2012 (Dkt. No. 47), pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), shall remain pending for decision until the stay in this action is lifted.