Opinion ID: 195329
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Depositions and Affidavits.

Text: 15 The district court stated in its opinion that, in reaching its decision, it had considered depositions and the uncontroverted portions of affidavits that were submitted in support of defendants' motion for summary judgment. Gay complains that these materials were not admitted into evidence at trial, that they constituted inadmissible hearsay, and that the court's reliance on them therefore was reversible error. 16 Gay accepts, however, that an appellate court will not reverse a trial court in a non-jury case based on the admission of incompetent evidence unless it appears from the record that the court relied upon that evidence to make an essential finding that otherwise would not have been made. See generally Hampton School Dist. v. Dobrowolski, 976 F.2d 48, 52-53 (1st Cir. 1992) (district court judgment will not be reversed for technical errors that do not affect substantial rights of the parties); DaSilva v. American Brands, Inc., 845 F.2d 356, 363 (1st Cir. 1988) (retrial not required when erroneous findings are not prejudicial). Gay identifies only a single deposition and a limited series of findings as problematic. 17 Scott Pomerantz, the head of the Mexican project for Kodak, was deposed but did not testify at trial. The district court's opinion included the following statements about FIMA USA's prospects early in January: 18 Pomerantz had not made any decision as to who would supply the machines if Kodak were awarded the contract. Kodak was competing with at least two other prime contractors, and FIMA USA was competing with another subcontractor, DataCard Corporation, a very large competitor with technology considered more suitable for the project. 19 Gay contends that these were critical findings relating to the state of mind of Kodak and Pomerantz, that they evidently were drawn from Pomerantz' inadmissible deposition, and that they unfairly led the court to conclude that PCSI was unlikely to obtain the Kodak subcontract. 20 Whether or not the district court considered Pomerantz' deposition in making these findings is immaterial because testimony elicited at trial warranted the same inferences. Axline testified that, at the time he and Kline traveled to Rochester on January 2, 1990, they knew that they were competing with DataCard. He stated that he saw DataCard equipment at the Kodak facility, and was told by Kodak officials that they still were considering DataCard. 21 Kline also testified that the Rochester trip on January 2 was for the purpose of demonstrating that the PCSI machine could perform as well as DataCard's, which apparently was preferred at that time because it was believed to have better printing quality. Because Pomerantz was the person with whom Axline and Kline dealt in Rochester, the court properly could find based on their testimony that Pomerantz had not yet decided which company would supply the machines if Kodak won the Mexican contract. 22 Thus, regardless of the propriety of the court's reliance on summary judgment depositions and affidavits-and we make no ruling on that issue-no reversible error occurred. The only findings that Gay identifies as crucial were otherwise proven through admissible evidence. 2. Disputed facts at summary judgment 23 As noted earlier, see supra at 5, the district court's pretrial order stated that all facts contained in defendants' motion for summary judgment and not specifically controverted would be deemed admitted. The court, however, did not list any particular facts as already determined. At the opening of trial, the court observed that the proceeding was being held to conclude the fact finding, and indicated that the remaining factual dispute concerned Sobieski's testimony; specifically, was Sobieski telling the truth in charging that the defendants concealed the Mexico project from Gay knowing that it was a lucrative opportunity for PCSI. 2 24 Gay claims that, in confining the trial to Sobieski's credibility, the district court essentially found disputed facts on the motion for summary judgment, thus improperly denying him a full hearing on his claims. He points to three issues that he believes were improperly found at the summary judgment stage: 25 DataCard remained in contention to supply the machines for the Mexican project until mid-January 1991; 26 the project was unlikely for FIMA USA and PCSI because the specifications included processes outside the capability of the PCSI machines; and 27 pricing information was first submitted to Kodak's Mexico affiliate on January 16, 1991. 28 We think it unnecessary to explore the proper boundaries of the district court's authority to resolve these issues following the summary judgment hearing because any such findings were revisited fully at trial, 3 and Gay was given ample opportunity to disprove them. During the course of the two-day proceeding, the district court heard extensive testimony about all aspects of the Mexican deal from the principals of FIMA USA and PCSI, as well as from the plaintiff and his witnesses. Each of the three points raised as crucial by Gay was addressed. 4 29 We already have noted evidence identifying DataCard as a competitor of PCSI's through at least the beginning of January. See supra at 7-8. Whether that status continued for another week or so is of no consequence, since the crucial point of reference is the December 20th closing. As for the date pricing information was provided to Kodak, the district court heard ample testimony explaining that the pricing originally was done through the distributor Campbell and that FIMA USA first submitted a price list directly to Kodak on January 16th or 17th. Axline's testimony at trial also permitted the district court to find that, regardless of the capability of the PCSI machines to meet the specifications of the Mexican project as they ultimately were defined, FIMA USA's principals initially felt the deal was beyond their range because PCSI's equipment could not accommodate the Mexican government's desire to include a photograph on the voter ID card. 30 In sum, the district court allowed the parties wide scope in presenting evidence at trial notwithstanding its limited articulation of the issues that remained to be resolved. We have no basis for concluding that the court made its factfinding prematurely on any significant issues. Moreover, at no time following issuance of the amended pretrial order did Gay meaningfully seek reconsideration or clarification of the court's ruling. 5 Certainly in these circumstances there was no reversible error in the court's procedure.