AMENDED STIPULATION AND ORDER (PROPOSED) REQUESTING REASSIGNMENT OF CASE FOR SENTENCING

WILLIAM B. SHUBB, District Judge.

It is hereby stipulated and agreed between plaintiff, United States of America, and defendants Moctezuma Tovar, Manuel Herrera, Sandra Hermosillo, and Jun Michael Dirain, pursuant to Eastern District Local Rule 123, that the above case should be reassigned to Hon. John A. Mendez for all proceedings, including sentencing of the four defendants named herein.

The stipulating parties reviewed Local Rule 123 and believe reassignment to a single judge is likely to effect a substantial savings of judicial effort and will aid the Court as well as counsel in avoiding substantial duplication of labor within the meaning of Local Rule 123(a)(3) and (a)(4). The case was reassigned to Judge Mendez for trial of defendants Ruben Rodriguez and Jaime Mayorga on November 30, 2016 (docket 472) and Judge Mendez has presided at substantial pretrial and trial proceedings since that time, including various motions, two jury trials (the second resulting in convictions) and sentencing of defendant Christian Parada Renteria (doc. 757). The four defendants named in this stipulation have delayed their sentencings pursuant to cooperation agreements to follow the sentencings of defendants Rodriguez and Mayorga by Judge Mendez and have testified at subsequent trials.

In recent discussions, counsel for all parties have seen that issues common to the trial defendants, including the use of experts to address sentencing guidelines issues, will likely affect sentencings of those defendants who pled guilty. In June, counsel for defendant Dirain spoke to Judge Mendez's courtroom deputy who advised that Judge Mendez is willing to sentence the four defendants named herein if the Court chooses to reassign them. In light of the issues common to all defendants, the parties agree that assignment of the case to a single judge for sentencing will be substantially more efficient. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the case be reassigned to Hon. John A. Mendez as to all defendants.

The parties further agree that, under Local Rule 123(c), the Court itself is authorized to enter this order of reassignment if it "determines that assignment of the actions to a single Judge is likely to effect a savings of judicial effort or other economies."

ORDER

The Court does not find that assignment of all four defendants named above to a single Judge would likely result in any substantial saving of judicial effort or prove to be more economical for the court or the parties. Accordingly, the undersigned judges decline to adopt the above stipulation to reassign the above action to Judge Mendez for all further proceedings. The case as against defendants Moctezuma Tovar, Manuel Herrera, Sandra Hermosillo, and Jun Michael Dirain shall remain assigned to Judge Shubb.

IT IS SO ORDERED.