Opinion ID: 797952
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to disclose full name of witness Keisha Guy

Text: 25 As we have noted, one of the incidents underlying Ammons-Lewis's hostile environment case was the alleged assault and battery by Davis, which Ammons-Lewis reported to the police. Chicago police officer Keisha Guy interviewed Ammons-Lewis regarding her complaint and documented the interview in a written report. Guy's report characterized Davis as an ex-boyfriend of the victim and indicated that the offense Ammons-Lewis had reported was domestic related. R. 50-3 Ex. 17 at 1. Guy would later testify that she wrote her report in this way based on what Ammons-Lewis herself had told her. R. 129-8 at 1344-45, 1347. (Ammons-Lewis denied having told the police officer that Davis was her former boyfriend. R. 129-4 at 532.) 26 As we have noted, Ammons-Lewis sought unsuccessfully prior to trial to exclude evidence suggesting a prior romantic relationship between herself and Davis. R. 66. In its response to that motion, filed some six months prior to the commencement of the trial, the District disclosed that it would be calling as a witness Officer K. Guy. R. 58 ¶ 3. The District stated its belief that Guy would testify that Plaintiff made statements concerning a romantic relationship between Plaintiff and Willie Davis. Id. The District's final roster of anticipated witnesses, submitted as part of the final pre-trial order, listed the Chicago Police Officer who interviewed DAL on 12/12/01 as a potential witness, although it did not identify Guy by name. R. 140 App. 4, Def. Witness List at 2. Well in advance of trial, both parties were also in possession of Officer Guy's written report, which likewise identified her as K. Guy and included her star number. R. 50-3 Ex. 17. Ammons-Lewis herself submitted a copy of Guy's report as an exhibit in support of the additional statement of material facts she tendered with her memorandum in opposition to the District's motion for summary judgment. Id. Not until the first day of trial, however, did the District identify Officer Guy by her full name — that is, Keisha Guy. R. 129-2 at 46. 27 Ammons-Lewis claims to have been surprised by the disclosure of Guy's first name. Her recollection was that she had been interviewed by a male police officer. Thus, she was not expecting a female officer — i.e. Guy — to testify about the nature of the complaint she filed with the police over the incident with Davis. Ammons-Lewis appears to suggest that the District purposely kept Officer Guy's first name quiet until the start of trial in order to catch her by surprise. 28 This is a frivolous argument. In the first instance, Ammons-Lewis never voiced an objection when Guy's first name was identified or when Guy was summoned to the witness stand. 3 Nor could she plausibly have made such an objection. Long before trial, Ammons-Lewis knew that Officer Guy had prepared a written report concerning her complaint against Davis. That report reflected Guy's first initial, last name, and star number. R. 50-3 Ex. 17. Ammons-Lewis herself relied on Guy's report in opposing the District's motion for summary judgment nearly a year before the trial commenced. See id. Six months before trial, when the District filed its opposition to her motion to exclude any evidence insinuating that she and Davis had dated, Ammons-Lewis knew that the District intended to call Guy to testify. R.58 ¶ 3. Based on the District's memorandum and Guy's report, Ammons-Lewis would have known that Guy was likely to testify that when she interviewed Ammons-Lewis, Ammons-Lewis had characterized Davis as her ex-boyfriend. Id. That neither the police report nor the District's memorandum disclosed Guy's first name did not prevent Ammons-Lewis from ascertaining her full name and gender in advance of trial. The information in Ammons-Lewis's possession was more than sufficient to enable her counsel to locate Guy and alert her to the need to do so. 29 Indeed, according to Guy's testimony, Ammons-Lewis herself tracked Guy down long before the trial began. Guy testified that Ammons-Lewis came to see her at the police station approximately one year before the trial and challenged Guy's report as inaccurate to the extent it indicated that she and Davis had had a domestic relationship. R. 129-8 at 1351-52. According to Guy, Ammons-Lewis seemed somewhat irritated, telling her that she had a sexual harassment suit against Davis and that Guy was messing it up. Id. at 1353. If that testimony is credited, the belated disclosure of Guy's complete first name obviously came as no surprise to Ammons-Lewis at all. Even if Guy's testimony about the confrontation is ignored and we assume that neither Ammons-Lewis nor her counsel spoke with Guy in advance of trial, the fault in failing to ascertain Guy's identity can be laid only at Ammons-Lewis's doorstep. 30