Opinion ID: 1387022
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Changes in Sorrell's Deposition

Text: Defendants claim that Sorrell corrected her deposition transcript after the expiration of the thirty-day deadline set forth by HRCP Rule 30(e). Defendants also claim that Sorrell did not sign her correction sheet and that the trial court unfairly surprised them by allowing the changes after the Rule 30 deadline. Plaintiffs admit to the untimely submission of Sorrell's corrections. However, plaintiffs argue that, at the time she was to review and sign the correction sheet, Sorrell lived on a United States military base in Japan and that the mail had to be sent first to Seattle, Washington, and then re-routed to Japan. Plaintiffs also state that Sorrell's misunderstanding about the correction procedure caused further delay. Instead of indicating her corrections on the correction sheet and executing it, Sorrell made changes on the deposition itself and sent it back without signing or noting those changes on the correction sheet, thus requiring a second mailing. The admission of a deposition should be affirmed unless the admission constituted an abuse of discretion. [14] Gallagher v. State, 466 N.E.2d 1382, 1387 (Ind.App.1984) (citing Jarvis v. State, 441 N.E.2d 1, 7 (Ind.1982)). In Gallagher, the trial judge admitted an unsigned deposition of a witness for the prosecution. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the admission of the deposition because [t]he state had only a very short time within which to get the deposition transcribed, reviewed and signed by [the state witness] before he disappeared. Gallagher, 466 N.E.2d at 1388. Plaintiffs argue that, like the deposition defects in Gallagher, the purported noncompliance with the time frame mandated by HRCP 30(e) in the instant case was similarly caused by extenuating circumstances; namely, Sorrell's foreign place of residence. Unlike Gallagher, however, Sorrell made changes to her deposition, and opposing counsel did not receive notice of her changes until December 2, 1991, five days before trial was to begin. Defendants argue that Sorrell's belated attempt to correct her deposition unfairly surprised defendants and should not have been allowed. We agree with defendants that the circumstances of this case give rise to the potential for unfair surprise. The changes made to Sorrell's deposition testimony were substantive [15] and had the potential to affect defendants' trial preparation and strategy. A deponent's foreign place of residence may, in some cases, qualify as an extenuating circumstance, meriting exception from the time limits prescribed in HRCP Rule 30(e). However, in the present situation, the untimely submission of Sorrell's deposition corrections was caused at least as much by Sorrell's foreign place of residence as it was by Sorrell's misunderstanding of the correction process, which required a second mailing to her foreign place of residence. Sorrell's misunderstanding of the correction process may, in turn, be attributed to Sorrell's counsel's failure to promptly provide Sorrell with a copy of her deposition for review and correction and/or to adequately explain the correction process. Thus, we believe that, in the present situation, Sorrell's foreign place of residence does not qualify as an extenuating circumstance, meriting exception from the time limits imposed by HRCP Rule 30(e). Therefore, we hold that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Sorrell to correct or change her original deposition testimony. Accordingly, the corrections/changes to Sorrell's deposition shall not be allowed on remand, and plaintiffs are bound by Sorrell's original deposition testimony.