Opinion ID: 1478438
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deposition Costs Imposed as Sanctions

Text: King intended to call his psychiatrist as an expert witness at trial. Counsel for appellees had received the psychiatrist's medical reports on King through March of 1991. They learned two days before trial that King's psychiatrist had made additional reports after March of 1991 which the parties had not reviewed, and which had not been given to Kirlin in discovery. The trial judge allowed Kirlin to take a second deposition of King's psychiatrist, which took place on August 30, 1991, after trial had recessed for the day. King argued to the trial judge that appellees' counsel improperly questioned King's psychiatrist about opinions and reports previously encompassed by the earlier deposition. As a result, King requested that appellees be made to pay one-half of both the deposition costs and his attorney's fees. The trial judge denied this request and ordered King to pay the costs of the second deposition in the amount of $3,223.50 as a sanction for the late identification of expert records and opinions held by King's expert witness. The trial judge did not abuse her discretion in awarding these fees to Kirlin for the second deposition. Discovery sanctions are particularly committed to the trial court's discretion. Corley v. BP Oil Corp., 402 A.2d 1258, 1261 (D.C.1979). Super.Ct.Civ.R. 37(b)(2) expressly permits an award of attorney's fees [i]n lieu of the other sanctions prescribed by the rule for violation of discovery orders. Here, the judge denied Kirlin's motion to exclude Dr. Booth from testifying at trial because of the violation, but sought to remedy the situation by allowing appellees to take Dr. Booth's deposition for the second time, and requiring King to pay the costs associated with the supplemental deposition. The judge found that King had failed to produce the medical and psychiatric records of his expert witness in a timely manner by producing the information two days before trial. In these circumstances, we are altogether unsympathetic with King's argument that Kirlin's attorney reploughed old ground, as it were, in the course of a new deposition made necessary by King's default. We conclude that the judge was within her discretion in awarding attorney's fees against King for breach of the discovery order. [4]