Opinion ID: 202204
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sworn Statement Under Penalty of Perjury

Text: 22 Before reaching appellants' federal and Puerto Rico claims, we must address a preliminary issue. In assessing Merck's summary judgment motion, the district court disregarded Orta's Sworn Statement Under Penalty of Perjury (Statement), an affidavit submitted in support of the appellants' opposition to summary judgment. The court disregarded the Statement because it was in conflict with the answers Orta had given in her deposition and because the appellants had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the subsequent change in her testimony. For two reasons, the appellants now argue that the district court erred in disregarding Orta's Statement. First, they claim that the court failed specifically to enumerate the contradictions in her testimony. Second, they contend that Orta provided a wholly satisfactory explanation for the change in testimony. 23 This Court review[s] the district court's decision as to `the evidentiary materials it will consider in deciding a motion for summary judgment' only for `a clear abuse of discretion.' Lennon v. Rubin, 166 F.3d 6, 8 (1st Cir.1999) (quoting EEOC v. Green, 76 F.3d 19, 24 (1st Cir.1996)). 24 With regard to the appellants' first ground for error, we can find no authority whatsoever for the proposition that a district court must specifically enumerate the contradictions that lead it to disregard a given piece of evidence. Orta's second asserted ground is similarly baseless. The appellants claim that they provided a satisfactory explanation for the change in Orta's testimony — namely, the fact that Orta was having trouble with her memory, and after reviewing certain documents she was able to recall events that she did not recall during her deposition. We, however, do not find this explanation to be satisfactory. Rather, we believe that the district court was warranted in finding the explanation to be an attempt to manufacture an issue of fact in order to survive summary judgment. See Colantuoni v. Alfred Calcagni & Sons, 44 F.3d 1, 4-5 (1st Cir.1994) (When an interested witness has given clear answers to unambiguous questions, he cannot create a conflict and resist summary judgment with an affidavit that is clearly contradictory, but does not give a satisfactory explanation of why the testimony is changed.). 25 Several factors lead us to this conclusion. First, the Statement was executed only after Merck had filed its motion for summary judgment, thus suggesting that the Statement was made solely to create an issue of fact for the purpose of surviving summary judgment. 2 In both Colantuoni, 44 F.3d at 5, and Torres v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 219 F.3d 13, 20 (1st Cir.2000), we found such a chronology to be probative of the fact that the non-movant was merely attempting to create an issue of fact. Second, Orta's deposition was taken on two different occasions. The first session was on January 28, 2004 and the second session on April 7, 2004. At both sessions, she was accompanied by her attorneys. At no point did they suggest that she was having trouble with her memory. See Colantuoni, 44 F.3d at 5 (noting that plaintiff's attorney was present at the deposition, and had the opportunity to clarify any incorrect impressions). Orta's memory problems seem to have developed only after Merck filed its summary judgment motion. The district court could well find incredible this sudden, retroactive bout of amnesia. We therefore accept the district court's conclusion that Orta's proffered explanation was not satisfactory and find here that the district court did not abuse its discretion in disregarding Orta's Statement.