Opinion ID: 777147
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Deposition Extracts

Text: 23
24 Exhibit Y purports to be an extract from the deposition of Castle in which she states that BOA's security officer Rick Parsons told her he knew the results of Orr's polygraph test. 25 This exhibit is not properly authenticated. The reporter's certification and the names of the deponent and the action are missing. The statement in Mirch's affidavit that Exhibit Y is a true and correct copy does not provide authentication because Mirch lacks personal knowledge of Castle's deposition. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(b)(1); Beyene, 854 F.2d at 1182. Nor can it be authenticated by reviewing its contents because Castle's name is not mentioned once in the deposition extract. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(b)(4). It is thus inadmissible. 10 26 A deposition or an extract therefrom is authenticated in a motion for summary judgment when it identifies the names of the deponent and the action and includes the reporter's certification that the deposition is a true record of the testimony of the deponent. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(b); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e) & 30(f)(1); 11 Beyene, 854 F.2d at 1182; Pavone v. Citicorp Credit Servs., Inc., 60 F.Supp.2d 1040, 1045(S.D.Cal.1997) (excluding a deposition for failure to submit a signed certification from the reporter). Ordinarily, this would have to be accomplished by attaching the cover page of the deposition and the reporter's certification to every deposition extract submitted. It is insufficient for a party to submit, without more, an affidavit from her counsel identifying the names of the deponent, the reporter, and the action and stating that the deposition is a true and correct copy. See Beyene, 854 F.2d at 1182. Such an affidavit lacks foundation even if the affiantcounsel were present at the deposition. See id.; Pavone, 60 F.Supp.2d at 1045. 27
28 Orr's Statement of Undisputed Facts fails to cite the page and line numbers when referring to the deposition contained in Exhibit D. 12 This defect alone warrants exclusion of the evidence. 13 See Huey v. UPS, Inc., 165 F.3d 1084, 1085 (7th Cir.1999) ([J]udges need not paw over the files without assistance from the parties.); Nissho-Iwai Am. Corp. v. Kline, 845 F.2d 1300, 1307 (5th Cir.1988) (parties must designate specific facts and their location in the record when relying on deposition testimony). The efficient management of judicial business mandates that parties submit evidence responsibly. We hold that when a party relies on deposition testimony in a summary judgment motion without citing to page and line numbers, the trial court may in its discretion exclude the evidence. 14 29
30 Exhibit S purports to be extracts from Orr's deposition in which she states that Bourdeau saw negative documents about her at the FDIC in connection with BOA. It lacks a reporter's certification and does not identify the names of the deponent and the action. It is therefore not authenticated. Ordinarily, it would have to be excluded. 31 However, a more complex problem arises when a district court admits into evidence, as it did here, a document that has been authenticated by a party but excludes the same document on the ground of inadequate authentication when submitted by another party. 15 Orr submitted Exhibit S in support of her opposition to BOA's motion for summary judgment. The district court found that the extracts of Orr's deposition contained in Exhibit S were not authenticated. It excluded Exhibit S from evidence despite the fact that BOA had authenticated Orr's deposition and relied upon it in the summary judgment motion. We must determine whether under these circumstances, the district court abused its discretion in excluding Exhibit S because of inadequate authentication. 32 The Third Circuit examined this issue in In re Japanese Elec. Prods. Antitrust Litig., 723 F.2d 238, 285-86 (3d Cir.1983), rev'd on other grounds by Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). It held that the trial court erred in finding that two diaries were authenticated as to some defendants but not others. See id. It explained: 33 The evidence which suffices to establish authenticity should be evidence that is relevant on the limited question of genuineness: that is, evidence admissible against the party having such a relationship to the proffered materials that it is likely to know the facts as to genuineness. Once a prima facie case of genuineness against that party is established, the court should regard the materials as sufficiently authenticated against all parties, subject, of course, to the right of any party to offer evidence to the ultimate fact-finder disputing authenticity. The other parties are adequately protected, with respect to trustworthiness, by the requirement that the court must still rule on admissibility. 34 Id. at 285. 35 We have previously held that a district court's admission of unauthenticated evidence in a summary judgment motion is harmless error when the same item of evidence has been authenticated by an opposing party. See Cristobal, 26 F.3d at 1494; Hal Roach Studios, 896 F.2d at 1551. We now hold that when a document has been authenticated by a party, the requirement of authenticity is satisfied as to that document with regards to all parties, subject to the right of any party to present evidence to the ultimate fact-finder disputing its authenticity. 16 See In re Japanese, 723 F.2d at 285. Thus, we recognize that an inquiry into authenticity concerns the genuineness of an item of evidence, not its admissibility. See 31 Wright & Gold, Federal Practice & Procedure: Evidence § 7104 at 30-31 (2000) (Once evidence offered against one party is deemed authentic, its authenticity is established as against all other parties as well.). 36 Exhibit S, which contains four pages of Orr's deposition testimony, was not properly authenticated by Orr. However, because these pages were included in portions of Orr's deposition authenticated by BOA, the district court manifestly erred in its decision to exclude Exhibit S for inadequate authentication. 17 37
38 Orr also failed to authenticate Exhibit B, which contains an extract from Bourdeau's deposition in which he states that BOA submitted disparaging documents about Orr to the FDIC. 18 However, because Bourdeau's deposition was authenticated by BOA, the district court manifestly erred in excluding Exhibit B for inadequate authentication. See In Re Japanese, 723 F.2d at 285-86. 39