Opinion ID: 852618
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Supplement the Interrogatory Answer

Text: Outback argues that a second instance of misconduct occurred when the plaintiffs failed to supplement their interrogatory response when they decided to call Roysdon as a witness. The Markleys respond that Outback waived any objection by choosing to cross-examine Roysdon on her change in testimony. The Markleys also argue that they decided to call Roysdon only after the trial had started and that the duty to supplement discovery does not continue during trial. They further contend that the information relating to Roysdon was work product. As explained below, none of these responses is adequate.
Trial Rule 26(E) provides several exceptions to the general rule that there is no continuing duty to supplement discovery responses that were complete when made. Among these is Trial Rule 26(E)(2)(a), which provides that a party has a duty to supplement a prior discovery response if he obtains information upon the basis of which he knows that the response was incorrect when made. Under Rule 26(E)(2)(b), there is also a duty to supplement a response that was correct when made but is no longer true if, under the circumstances, a failure to amend the response is in substance a knowing concealment. At the point the plaintiffs determined to present Roysdon's testimony, the omission of the substance of that testimony from their answer to Interrogatory 12, even if correct when made, became no longer true and a knowing concealment as those terms are used in Rule 26(E)(2)(b). The Markleys first argue that the duty to supplement discovery does not continue during trial. Outback cites federal authority for the proposition that the duty to supplement under FRCP 26(e) is an ongoing obligation. See Smith v. Ford, 626 F.2d 784, 795 (10th Cir.1980) (citing Weiss v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 515 F.2d 449, 457 (2d Cir.1975)). Indiana Trial Rule 26 does not explicitly address whether a party's duty to supplement continues during trial. But, importantly, it does not say this duty ceases at the onset of trial. We see no reason why the duties imposed by Trial Rule 26(E)(2)(a) and (b) stop at the outset of trial. To permit a party discovering its own error or omission to remain silent would permit that party to benefit from its own concealment or error. Whether the initial response to Interrogatory 12 was intentionally or inadvertently incomplete, the duty to supplement was triggered by either subsection (a) or subsection (b). Trial Rule 26(E) requires that a supplemental response be seasonably made. This suggests a need for timely response. We think it also indicates that it may be reasonable and appropriate to modify the method of supplementing a discovery response if new information is discovered on the eve of or during trial. Here no effort at all was made. That is surely inadequate by any measure.
The Markleys argue that the substance of Roysdon's 1997 statement to Alexander is protected as attorney work-product. This claim is neither preserved nor correct. In the first place, they made no work-product objection to the interrogatory. In any event, work-product is not a valid ground for the plaintiffs' omissions. The Court of Appeals rejected this argument on the ground that work-product is limited to documents or tangible things and Roysdon's statement was never memorialized in writing. We do not agree that work-product is limited to tangible items. An attorney cannot be forced to disclose the attorney's mental impressions, etc., whether or not they are reduced to writing. Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 510, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947) (the work product of a lawyer reflected in interviews, statements, memoranda, correspondence, briefs, mental impressions, personal beliefs, and countless other tangible and intangible ways is protected). But Roysdon's statement is not attorney work-product for a more fundamental reason. The purpose of the privilege is to protect the mental impressions and legal theories of attorneys and their clients. Roysdon's statements to Alexander do not reveal mental impressions or legal theories. They are simply potential evidence that enjoys no privilege. Accordingly, they are not protected as work-product. Kristoff v. Glasson, 778 N.E.2d 465, 471 (Ind.Ct.App. 2002).
In reliance on our decision in O'Connell v. State, 742 N.E.2d 943, 948 (Ind.2001), the Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that Outback's decision to cross-examine Roysdon waived any objection based on the failure to supplement discovery. In O'Connell we held that when a party is confronted with a surprise witness, ordinarily the proper remedy is to move for a continuance and the failure to move for a continuance may waive any alleged error. O'Connell dealt with a witness who had not been identified by either side and came forward with relevant evidence after the trial had started. The defendant objected to the witness at trial, and the trial court allowed a continuance to permit the defendant to depose the witness. The State had made no attempt to conceal the witness from the defense, and the defense had not deposed the witness before the trial. Under this circumstance a continuance is ordinarily appropriate to permit the defendant to pin down the testimony that could be expected of the new witness. Here, however, Outback had no reason to seek a continuance. The Markleys presented a witness whom the defense had expected to call. This was a surprise only in that the plaintiffs, not the defendants, had called her. At the time she was called, Outback had no reason to believe she would not adhere to her 2001 deposition testimony. Outback also argues that its decision to cross-examine Roysdon and impeach her with her 2001 deposition testimony did not forfeit other remedies (a continuance, a mistrial, exclusion of Roysdon's testimony) because Outback was unaware of Roysdon's 1997 statement when it elected to cross-examine Roysdon. Outback argues that it was disadvantaged in cross-examining Roysdon because its ignorance of the 1997 statement prevented it from showing the jury that she had flip-flopped more than once. Outback notes that Alexander in closing argument portrayed Roysdon as a courageous witness who, after feeling guilty for years, decided at the last minute to be guided by her conscience, stop lying, and tell the truth. Outback argues that the jury would have considered Roysdon's testimony less admirable if it had known of Roysdon's 1997 statement and the fact she had changed her story twice, not just once. We doubt that Roysdon's testimony would have been less credible if all the facts were on the table, but we agree that Outback cannot be charged with waiver when it is ignorant of all relevant facts due to misconduct on the part of its opponent. We think that the most important reason why Outback's decision to cross-examine Roysdon did not waive its objection to the belated disclosure of Roysdon's recanting of her deposition testimony is that Outback was not advised in advance of Roysdon's change in testimony and, therefore, had no time to evaluate whether to seek a continuance, move for a mistrial, or redepose Roysdon to explore the circumstances of her change of heart. A proper supplement to plaintiffs' response to Interrogatory 12 would have identified Roysdon and stated the substance of what she would say. That information was intentionally withheld from Outback by plaintiffs' attorneys. Without it no waiver can be claimed.