Opinion ID: 1605808
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of Expert Witness Tom Dial.

Text: ¶ 17. On day two of the trial, Sandra sought to proffer the testimony of Tom Dial, a private investigator, who supposedly had witnessed Henry's visits to various casinos. Henry moved to exclude the investigator's testimony on the basis that Dial's investigative reports had not been produced until nine days before trial, on April 25, and that Sandra had not disclosed that he was to testify at trial until May 1, three days before trial. ¶ 18. The trial court heard arguments from both sides on the matter. According to the record, Sandra had disclosed at her deposition held on March 16, 2006, that she had a private investigator. The record shows that Sandra possessed the investigator's reports for at least seven months prior to producing them on April 25. ¶ 19. The trial court found that Sandra had failed to timely provide the name of an expert witness and ruled that Dial would not be permitted to testify as to the contents of his investigative reports. At that point, Sandra again moved for a continuance to allow Henry additional time to prepare for her expert witness. That motion was denied. ¶ 20. Pursuant to Rule 26(f) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, discovery responses are to be supplemented seasonably. There is no bright-line rule as to what amounts to seasonable supplementation. Eastover Bank for Sav. v. Hall, 587 So.2d 266, 272 (Miss.1991). Rather, seasonableness must be determined on a case by case basis looking at the totality of the circumstances surrounding the supplemental information the offering party seeks to admit. Blanton v. Bd. of Supervisors, 720 So.2d 190, 196 (Miss.1998). ¶ 21. We note at the outset that, even though Dial was designated as an expert witnesses, the record negates categorizing him as the type of expert contemplated by Rule 26(b)(4)(A)(i) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. [3] The record clearly shows that Dial, while maybe a witness with expertise, was foremost an occurrence witness. In other words, having directly observed Henry's visits to casinos, conduct which Sandra alleges was detrimental to the marital estate, Dial was a witness to events at issue in this case. Thus, pursuant to Rule 26(b)(1) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, both Dial's identity and the subject matter of his proposed testimony were discoverable matters. See also Ladner v. Ladner, 436 So.2d 1366,1372 (Miss.1983) (a party is entitled to a list of occurrence witnesses during discovery). ¶ 22. After having responded in her deposition that she had hired a private investigator, Sandra, without reasonable explanation, waited until three days before trial to disclose that the investigator was to testify as a witness. When Henry moved to exclude that testimony, Sandra again requested a continuance so as to allow Henry additional time to prepare. The trial judge denied her request for the same reason he denied her request with regard to the untimely supplemented documents. Based on the record, this Court cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion both by excluding Dial as a witness and denying Sandra's request for a continuance. Issues I, II, and III are without merit.