Opinion ID: 1458041
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Remedy for Untimely Disclosure of Expert Testimony

Text: Wegener argues that the district court should have employed a less-restrictive remedy, such as a continuance, instead of excluding her untimely disclosed evidence. When a party fails to provide information or identify a witness in compliance with Rule 26(a) or (e), the district court has wide discretion to fashion a remedy or sanction as appropriate for the particular circumstances of the case. Fed. R.Civ.P. 37(c)(1); Trost v. Trek Bicycle Corp., 162 F.3d 1004, 1008 (8th Cir.1998) (failure to disclose in a timely manner is equivalent to failure to disclose). The district court may exclude the information or testimony as a self-executing sanction unless the party's failure to comply is substantially justified or harmless. Fed. R.Civ.P. 37(c)(1). When fashioning a remedy, the district court should consider, inter alia, the reason for noncompliance, the surprise and prejudice to the opposing party, the extent to which allowing the information or testimony would disrupt the order and efficiency of the trial, and the importance of the information or testimony. Sellers v. Mineta, 350 F.3d 706, 711-12 (8th Cir.2003); see also Marti v. City of Maplewood, 57 F.3d 680, 683 (8th Cir. 1995) (setting forth a variety of possibly relevant factors). We note, however, that the district court's discretion narrows as the severity of the sanction or remedy it elects increases. See Heartland Bank v. Heartland Home Fin., Inc., 335 F.3d 810, 817 (8th Cir.2003) (where exclusion of evidence was tantamount to dismissal of claims, the district court should have considered lesser sanctions); Laclede Gas Co. v. G.W. Warnecke Corp., 604 F.2d 561, 565-66 (8th Cir.1979) (drastic sanctions, such as dismissal, require a finding of willfulness, bad faith, or fault on the part of the noncompliant party). Though the exclusion of evidence is a harsh penalty and should be used sparingly, ELCA Enters. v. Sisco Equip. Rental & Sales, 53 F.3d 186, 190 (8th Cir.1995); see Bergfeld v. Unimin Corp., 319 F.3d 350, 355 (8th Cir.2003), we hold that the district court's election of that remedy was within the bounds of its discretion in the circumstances of this case. Wegener's failure to disclose Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony in a timely manner was neither substantially justified nor harmless, a continuance would have postponed a much-delayed trial, and the testimony was offered to prove a point upon which a substantial amount of other evidence was presented to the jury. Wegener argues that her disclosure was untimely because Dr. Halbridge's supplemental report responded to Dr. West's supplemental report, which her counsel suspected was based on his review of ultrasounds that the defense had subpoenaed from the hospitals. Because we have concluded that Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was not true rebuttal evidence, we hold that this argument does not substantially justify its untimely disclosure. Furthermore, Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was based on hospital records that were easily discoverable, patently relevant to Wegener's case, and which Wegener's counsel knew the defense had subpoenaed five months prior to the disclosure deadline. Wegener's failure to exercise due diligence with respect to her expert's review of relevant medical records also does not substantially justify her untimely disclosure. See Trost, 162 F.3d at 1008. The untimeliness of Wegener's disclosure also was not harmless with respect to Johnson's preparation for trial and the district court's trial schedule. See id. at 1008-09. Wegener contends that her untimely disclosure did not prejudice Johnson because his counsel had subpoenaed the ultrasounds months before and had already disclosed experts who were capable of reading ultrasounds. Though Johnson may not have been surprised by the potential for the ultrasounds to be interpreted in Wegener's favor, he still may have been surprised by the untimely disclosure of the opinion as evidence and of Dr. Halbridge as the opinion's source. Counsel's preparation for the cross examination or possible rebuttal of an expert witness on a matter of expertise can be extensive. Dr. Halbridge's qualifications for reading upper-abdominal ultrasounds were not readily apparent, and it may have been in the interest of justice to allow Johnson to depose Dr. Halbridge to explore his qualifications and the basis for his interpretation of the ultrasound. The district court could well have concluded that the two-and-a-half weeks remaining before trial would not have provided sufficient time to prepare a rebuttal and cross examination involving expert testimony. Thus, had the district court admitted Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony, it might have been necessary to grant Johnson a continuance and further disrupt the district court's trial calendar. Finally, Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony, though relevant, was not that important to Wegener's case because it was offered to prove a point in support of which a substantial amount of other evidence was presented to the jury. See, e.g., Wood v. Valley Forge Life Ins. Co., 478 F.3d 941, 946 (8th Cir.2007) (exclusion of coroner's opinion as to cause of death in a life insurance case was harmless where the same conclusion was offered by another expert); Charles Woods Television Corp. v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., 869 F.2d 1155, 1162 (8th Cir.1989) (exclusion of evidence not prejudicial where party seeking to admit evidence had presented substantial other proof of same point). Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was offered to show that gallstones were present in Wegener's gallbladder. Wegener's theory of the case centered on a diagnosis of gallbladder disease and thus required evidence of gallstones and/or sludge in her gallbladder. Wegener's case-in-chief presented a variety of evidence from Wegener's hospital records that gallstones may have been present in her gallbladder. Multiple witnesses testified that the radiology reports from Methodist indicated that gallstones may have been present; a pathologist from Methodist testified that the chief pathologist who had examined Wegener's gallbladder concluded that she suffered from gallbladder disease and introduced the pathology report into evidence; and the surgeon who removed Wegener's gallbladder testified that she had diagnosed Wegener with gallbladder disease based on the Methodist radiology report, Wegener's symptoms, and her observation of the gallbladder at the time of its removal. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the proposed testimony. In any event, any error in excluding it would have been harmless for the reasons detailed above with respect to the testimony's relative lack of probative value. Therefore, we affirm the district court's exclusion of Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony.