United States v. Sierra Pacific Industries
Opinion
Opinion
Brennan, J.
ORDER
On October 7, 2010, Sierra Pacific Industries (hereafter “SPI”) filed a motion to recuse the undersigned. The government submitted its opposition to the motion on October 27, 2010, and SPI submitted a reply brief on November 3, 2010. The matter was heard and submitted on November 10, 2010. For-the reasons stated below, the motion for recusal is denied.
Two weeks before SPI filed the recusal motion, the court had held a hearing on SPI’s motion for additional discovery and the United States’ motion for a protective order. SPI had asked for leave to depose thirty-seven fact witnesses and for leave to depose two witnesses for at least five days each. The court allowed ten extra depositions beyond the number that the parties had already agreed to, and allowed two days and four hours for each of the two witness depositions.
The court did not rule from the bench on the government’s motion, which sought sanctions for SPI’s counsel’s conduct in violating the no-contact rule of professional responsibility, but took the matter under submission. At the end of the hearing the undersigned stated “I remain concerned ... I have the same concerns now as I did when we began this hearing…