Opinion ID: 3161631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: did the trial court abuse its discretion by

Text: DENYING THE MOTION TO STRIKE IMPROPER SUMMARY-JUDGMENT EVIDENCE? 6 ¶11. Illinois Central filed a motion to strike Ellenbecker’s designation and Dr. Whites’s report from Jackson’s summary-judgment briefing. Illinois Central argued that the unsworn expert designation and report constituted hearsay and were not proper summary-judgment evidence. The trial court denied the motion to strike. Illinois Central renews its arguments on appeal. ¶12. Under our rules of civil procedure, a party against whom a claim is asserted may “move with or without supporting affidavits for a summary judgment in his favor.” M.R.C.P. 56(b). The trial court shall grant the motion “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” M.R.C.P. 56(c). Other than undenied allegations in the party’s pleadings and Rule 36 admissions, all material submitted in opposition to summary judgment must be sworn. Magee v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Corp., 551 So. 2d 182, 186 (Miss. 1989). This includes, but is not limited to, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and affidavits. Id. These materials must be sworn, made upon personal knowledge, and show that the party giving them is competent to testify. Id.; see M.R.C.P. 56(e). ¶13. Jackson’s designation of Ellenbecker set out Ellenbecker’s opinions about asbestos in the railroad industry. But it was sworn to and signed by Jackson, not Ellenbecker. Therefore, as Illinois Central argues, the designation was unsworn and not based upon Ellenbecker’s personal knowledge. And when a party files her own sworn statement of what an expert witness will say, offered for its truth, the statement is hearsay and is incompetent 7 to support or oppose summary judgment. Walker v. Skiwski, 529 So. 2d 184, 187 (Miss. 1988); M.R.E. 801(c). In Walker, a parent who alleged that a physician had botched his son’s circumcision filed his own sworn interrogatory answers listing five physicians who would testify to Dr. Skiwski’s negligence. Id. Walker provided no sworn testimony by any of the five physicians. Id. This Court held that Walker’s interrogatory answer stating what the physicians would say, sworn to by Walker himself, constituted pure hearsay and was incompetent summary-judgment evidence. Id. ¶14. The basis of the rule in Walker is that summary-judgment evidence must be admissible at trial. Trustmark Nat’l Bank v. Meador, 81 So. 3d 1112, 1118 (Miss. 2012). To be exact, the content of summary-judgment evidence must be admissible at trial although the evidence may be in a form, such as an affidavit, that would not be admissible. Jeffrey Jackson, Mississippi Civil Procedure §11:22 (2009). Thus, hearsay statements that would not be admissible at trial are incompetent to support or oppose summary judgment. Harris ex rel. Harris v. Pontotoc Cty. Sch. Dist., 635 F.3d 685, 692 (5th Cir. 2011). Here, Jackson swore that Ellenbecker would offer various opinions at trial about asbestos in the railroad industry. These opinions constituted inadmissible hearsay because they were offered for their truth and meet no hearsay exception. M.R.E. 801(c); M.R.E. 803. Therefore, Ellenbecker’s opinions in the designation were incompetent to oppose summary judgment, and the trial court erred by denying the motion to strike. ¶15. Illinois Central also argues that Dr. Whites’s report should have been struck from the summary-judgment briefing because it, too, was unsworn. As previously noted, “Dr. 8 Whites’s report” was a letter from Dr. Whites to Jackson’s counsel opining that “there is a direct link of asbestos exposure to [Charles’s] development of lung cancer.” Illinois Central introduced Dr. Whites’s report into the summary-judgment briefing by including it in its motion for summary judgment. Jackson did not include the report in her response opposing summary judgment. Instead, Jackson relied upon Dr. Whites’s sworn deposition testimony. By arguing that Dr. Whites’s report should be struck from the summary-judgment briefing, Illinois Central asks this Court to strike evidence that Illinois Central, not Jackson, submitted. “An appellant cannot complain on appeal of alleged errors which he invited or induced.” HWCC-Tunica, Inc. v. Jenkins, 907 So. 2d 941, 942 (Miss. 2005) (quoting Busick v. St. John, 856 So. 2d 304, 315 (Miss. 2003)). This issue is without merit.