Opinion ID: 1634464
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: LAW I. Whether the court erred in allowing the Defendants to present on motion for summary judgment the affidavit of an expert witness whose identity and testimony they had previously refused to divulge?

Text: The Travises contend that the trial court should not have considered Dr. Martin's affidavit. They argue that they were surprised and prejudiced because Dr. Martin's name and opinions had not been disclosed in response to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories No. 1, in which the plaintiffs asked Southwest and Dr. Stewart to disclose the identity and opinions of experts they would use at trial. Moreover, a second set of interrogatories were propounded, once again requesting the identity of experts to be called at trial. The defendants in their responses submitted no experts that would testify at trial, nor did Dr. Stewart or Southwest supplement their responses to the interrogatories. Both defendants, without providing prior notice that an expert had been selected, filed on April 8, 1993, a motion for summary judgment noticing a hearing date on April 20, 1993. Attached to this motion was the affidavit of Dr. Martin, the defendants' expert witness, stating that Dr. Stewart and Southwest had complied with the standard of care in their care and treatment of Tamara Travis and Aimee Michelle Travis. The Travises contend that a party has a duty under Rule 26(f)(2) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure to seasonably supplement its answers not only to reveal the identity of expert witnesses but the substance of their testimony as well. State Hwy. Comm. of Ms. v. Havard, 508 So.2d 1099 (Miss. 1987). Southwest argues the Travises waived any objections since they did not file a motion to strike Dr. Martin's affidavit nor did they object to consideration of it by the circuit court. The Travises' first such challenge to the affidavit comes in this appeal. This Court has previously held that: In a summary judgement proceeding, the plaintiff must rebut the defendant's claim (i.e., that no genuine issue of material fact exists) by producing supportive evidence of significant and probative value; this evidence must show that the defendant breached the established standard of care and that such breach was the proximate cause of her injury. Palmer v. Biloxi Regional Medical Center, Inc., 564 So.2d 1346, 1355 (Miss. 1990). Simply put, Southwest and Dr. Stewart provided the trial judge with an affidavit, not previously disclosed in discovery in support of their motion for summary judgment. Dr. Martin, the affiant, stated that the two defendants complied with the standard of care in their care and treatment of Tamara Travis and Aimee Michelle Travis. The Travises did not file a motion to strike the affidavit of Dr. Martin, nor did they file rebuttal affidavits, even though the trial judge gave them 10 additional days in which to present evidence in support of their cause. This Court has long held that [w]here the party against whom a motion for summary judgment is made wishes to attack one or more of the affidavits upon which the motion is based, he must file in the trial court a motion to strike the affidavit. Brown v. Credit Center, Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 365 (Miss. 1984). Failure to file the motion to strike constitutes waiver of any objection to the affidavit. Nichols v. Tubb, 609 So.2d 377, 387 (Miss. 1992) (Any insufficiency in pretrial discovery is clearly and manifestly waived when party opposite fails to object). An objection to use of an affidavit may not be raised for the first time on appeal. Id. citing Auto Drive-Away Co. of Hialeah, Inc. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 360 F.2d 446 (5th Cir.1966).