Watts, David v. Bergren, Charlie

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
DAVID W. WATTS,
Plaintiff, ORDER
v. 24-cv-504-wmc
CHARLES BERGREN,
Defendant.
Plaintiff David Watts, an inmate representing himself, filed last-minute motions for
assistance in recruiting counsel, a temporary stay, and to compel discovery responses before
proceeding with a long-scheduled Pavey hearing on the issue of exhaustion.1 On March 30,
2026, the court addressed and denied plaintiff’s motions for reasons more fully addressed
on the record but briefly addressed below, then proceeded to hold the Pavey hearing. Even
so, during the hearing itself, plaintiff also requested additional time to submit evidence
once he can: (1) review a journal that he claimed to have kept during the relevant time
period but had not yet been returned to him after his move to Columbia Correctional
Institution from New Lisbon Correctional Institution, and (2) confirm if any log exists of
Captain Pitzen’s purported visit to him on June 7, 2024, and if not, why not. The court
agreed to keep the Pavey record open to give the parties more time as to both. Finally,
defendant requested an extension of the discovery and dispositive motion deadlines for the
same reason, which the court granted.
1 Pavey v. Conley, 544 F.3d 739 (7th Cir. 2008).
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I. Motion for Assistance Recruiting Counsel
Plaintiff moved for assistance recruiting counsel, describing his difficulty hearing
and ongoing mental health issues. Plaintiff provided some evidence of the former, although
in the form of a September 2025 hearing exam note that confirmed his “moderately severe
to profound sensorineural hearing loss,” but “excellent word recognition.” As for his
ongoing mental health issues, while defendant provided a note stating his “referral” to the
Wisconsin Resource Center was a “high priority,” he appeared well oriented to the time,
place and manner of the hearing and fully able to represent himself. Regardless, the court
was able to confirm that plaintiff could adequately hear, understand, and respond to
questions and make arguments intelligibly before proceeding with the hearing, a finding
wholly confirmed during the Pavey hearing itself. Because plaintiff demonstrated that he
could represent himself, and pro bono counsel is unfortunately a scarce resource in this
district, plaintiff’s motion for assistance recruiting counsel was DENIED without prejudice.
II. Motion to Compel
Plaintiff moved to compel discovery responses, representing that the responses
would have been necessary to his presentation of evidence at the Pavey hearing. Because
the requested discovery did not bear on the question of the availability of administrative
remedies at issue for the March 30 hearing, that motion was also DENIED.
III. Motion for Temporary Stay
Plaintiff also moved for a stay of this case, describing that he was in observation at
New Lisbon, where he did not have access to his legal materials. He was then transferred
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to Columbia, where he states that he still does not have access to some of his belongings.
Nonetheless, because plaintiff had several weeks at Columbia to prepare for the hearing,
and the central issue was whether plaintiff’s previous submissions and testimony were
credible, this motion was DENIED as well, except to keep the record open for 45 days: (1)
to permit plaintiff access to his journal and to the visitor log for Columbia Unit 6 on June
7, 2024; and (2) to submit any additional, relevant materials regarding defendant’s claimed
destruction of three, early June 2024 inmate complaints.
IV. Remaining Matters
During the hearing, plaintiff repeatedly referenced his journal that remains at New
Lisbon, and he states that the journal would have shown the exact dates in which Officer
Bergren brought plaintiff’s inmate complaints to his cell and destroyed them. Because
plaintiff has not been able to access this journal since transferring to Columbia, the court
will allow discovery for the limited purpose of supplementing the factual record for the
Pavey hearing. Both plaintiff and defendant must submit any additional evidence for the
record on or before May 14, 2026. Defendant’s counsel is also DIRECTED to assist
plaintiff with obtaining his journal from his previous institution and determining the
availability of records showing Capt. Pitzen visited plaintiff at Columbia Unit 6 on June 7,
2024.
Finally, the court will strike the discovery and dispositive motion deadline and
reschedule both, if necessary, in its order on the motion for summary judgment for failure
to exhaust administrative remedies. All other case deadlines remain in place.
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ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1) Plaintiff’s motions to stay this case, for assistance recruiting counsel, and to compel
production of evidence are DENIED. (Dkt. #69.)
2) Limited discovery for the purposes described above will be available until May 14,
2026.
3) The discovery and dispositive motion deadlines are STRUCK pending a final
decision on exhaustion following the close of the record of the Pavey hearing, while
all other case deadlines remain.
Entered this 31st day of March, 2026.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
WILLIAM M. CONLEY
District Judge
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