Opinion ID: 2628535
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Did the district court abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of the Wilsons' proposed expert witness?

Text: [¶ 44] On June 19, 2009, the Wilsons responded to a discovery request from Lucerne by indicating that [n]o experts have been hired. On August 25, 2009, the Wilsons supplemented their response with the following information: Wilsons may utilize the testimony of the following expert witnesses: . . . . B. Mr. Cotton Jones Jones Land Surveying, Inc. 6750 Say Kally Road Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009 (307) 637-7107 Mr. Jones may be employed to survey the channel now utilized as an irrigation canal. If he makes a survey he will testify as to the location of the channel and the means he utilized to determine the location. If a survey is not made, Mr. Jones will give his opinion as to the ease with which the channel now utilized as an irrigation canal can be surveyed and the engineering techniques which can be utilized for making such a survey. [¶ 45] Lucerne's attorney immediately contacted the Wilsons' attorney to inquire about this proposed expert witness, and wrote the following in a letter to the Wilsons' attorney on August 26, 2009: I understand from speaking with you today that Mr. Jones has not been retained by you and that you have, in fact, never spoken with him. You further confirmed that Mr. Jones has not completed any survey and, to your knowledge, has never visited the Wilsons' property in relation to the issues involved in the current dispute over the survey, location, boundaries or scope of Lucerne's easement. I understand that Mr. Jones has not provided you with a cost estimate regarding completing a survey or any other work. You indicated that there would be no reason for me to depose Mr. Jones as he would have no information about the survey or the easement in question. [¶ 46] Despite the above correspondence, the Wilsons' pre-trial disclosure listed Cotton Jones as a may call witness, and identified the following as a possible exhibit: If prepared, a survey and description of the channel which Lucerne utilizes for transporting water from where it is diverted from the North Platte River to its headgate. Lucerne responded with a motion in limine asking the district court to preclude Jones from acting as an expert witness and from providing any opinion testimony at trial. In the memorandum of law filed in support of its motion, Lucerne noted the discovery matters set forth above, and then argued that the Wilsons had violated W.R.C.P. 26(a)(2), which requires in pertinent part as follows: (2) Disclosure of expert testimony. (A) In addition to the disclosures required by paragraph (1) or (1.1), a party shall disclose to other parties the identity of any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under Rules 702, 703, or 705 of the Wyoming Rules of Evidence. (B) Except as otherwise stipulated or directed by the court, this disclosure shall, with respect to a witness who is retained or specially employed to provide expert testimony in the case or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve giving expert testimony, be accompanied by a written report prepared and signed by the witness or disclosure signed by counsel for the party. The report or disclosure shall contain a complete statement of all opinions to be expressed and the basis and reasons therefor; the data or other information considered by the witness in forming the opinions; and exhibits to be used as a summary of or support for the opinions; the qualifications of the witness, including a list of all publications authored by the witness within the preceding ten years; the compensation to be paid for the study and testimony; and a listing of any other cases in which the witness has testified as an expert at trial or by deposition within the preceding four years. (C) These disclosures shall be made at the times and in the sequence directed by the court. In the absence of other directions from the court or stipulation by the parties, the disclosures shall be made at least 90 days before the trial date or the date the case is to be ready for trial or, if the evidence is intended solely to contradict or rebut evidence on the same subject matter identified by another party under paragraph (2)(B), within 30 days after the disclosure made by the other party. The parties shall supplement these disclosures when required under subdivision (e)(1). (Emphasis added.) [¶ 47] As noted above, the district court granted Lucerne's motion in limine during an unreported bench conference. See supra ¶ 15. The post-trial Order on Location of Easement contained the following explanation of that ruling: Wilsons attempted to offer evidence of a survey they obtained in late October, 2009, less than two weeks before trial. The Court excluded that evidence for failure to comply with WRCP 26. Wilsons submitted an offer of proof. [¶ 48] In the memorandum of law submitted to the district court in support of its motion in limine and in its appellate brief, Lucerne identifies the Wilsons' deficiencies in this regard as the failure to provide any of the following: 1. a written report prepared and signed by Mr. Jones in which he provided a complete statement of all of the opinions that he would be expressing, and the basis and reasons for such opinions; 2. the data or other information considered by him in forming his opinions; 3. any exhibits to be used as a summary of or in support of his opinions; 4. his qualifications; 5. a list of the publications that he has authored within the preceding ten years; 6. the compensation to be paid for his studies or testimony; or 7. a listing of any other cases in which he has testified as an expert within the preceding four years. [¶ 49] The Wilsons counter these arguments with several contentions. First, they argue that they appropriately disclosed Mr. Jones and his survey report in a supplemental discovery response on August 25, 2009, and again in their pre-trial disclosures on September 14, 2009. Next, they contend that Mr. Jones was not able to complete the survey until late October 2009, and that the record of his survey was provided to counsel for Lucerne as soon as it was available in November 2009. Finally, at the outset of the trial, the Wilsons' attorney informed the district court that Mr. Jones would be called as a rebuttal or impeachment witness, if at all. Based upon this last assertion, the Wilsons contend that W.R.C.P. 26(a)(3) creates an exception to disclosure for impeachment witnesses. [¶ 50] The question of the admissibility of evidence is primarily a question for the trial court. W.R.E. 104(a). We will reverse a trial court's decision on the admissibility of evidence only if the trial court abused its discretion. Clark v. Gale, 966 P.2d 431, 435 (Wyo.1998). In determining whether there has been an abuse of discretion, the ultimate issue is whether or not the court could reasonably conclude as it did. Dean v. State, 2008 WY 124, ¶ 14, 194 P.3d 299, 303 (Wyo.2008) (quoting Campbell v. Studer, 970 P.2d 389, 392 (Wyo.1998)). These rules apply to a district court's decision whether to admit or reject expert testimony. Id. [¶ 51] We will first discuss the Wilsons' final contentionthat is, that they were not required to disclose Cotton Jones as a witness because he was only a rebuttal or impeachment witness. The Wilsons are wrong in this regard, for a couple of reasons. First, the structure of W.R.C.P. 26(a) does not support their argument. W.R.C.P. 26(a) is concerned with required disclosures during the discovery process. Subsection (a)(1) governs initial disclosures, subsection (a)(2) governs disclosure of expert testimony, and subsection (a)(3) governs specific matters such as the disclosure of the names and addresses of all witnesses, the distinction between will call and may call witnesses, the designation of witnesses expected to testify by deposition, and identification of exhibits. The exception in (a)(3) for witnesses being called solely for impeachment simply does not negate the requirement in (a)(2) for appropriate disclosure of expert witnesses. Were this true, defendants could always avoid identification of their expert witnesses by claiming that the expert testimony was solely intended to impeach the plaintiff's expert. Beyond that, and the second reason the Wilsons argument is not valid, is the fact that the proffered testimony of Cotton Jones went well beyond impeachment and was, for all intents and purposes, simply the testimony of an expert witness. [¶ 52] The disclosures required by W.R.C.P. 26(a)(2) are mandatory. LM v. Laramie County Dep't of Family Servs. (In re MN), 2007 WY 189, ¶ 5, 171 P.3d 1077, 1080 (Wyo.2007) (use of the word shall in a statute makes the provision mandatory). Thus, if the district court reasonably found that the Wilsons did not comply with those mandates, it certainly cannot be said that the district court abused its discretion in not admitting the expert testimony. Of particular importance in the instant case are the time limitations contained in W.R.C.P. 26(a)(2)(C), which, absent other direction by the district court, require disclosure as to expert testimony to be made at least 90 days before trial, and disclosure of rebuttal expert testimony to be made within 30 days after that disclosure. [¶ 53] The sequence of significant post-remand pre-trial disclosure events was as follows in this case: On May 19, 2008, the Wilsons filed a Request for Entry of Order Quieting Title and Order Establishing Date for Completion of Survey. On July 7, 2008, the district court entered its Order on Motion, which ordered Lucerne to file an easement survey by July 31, 2008, gave the Wilsons 30 days thereafter to file any objections, and reserved the setting of an evidentiary hearing. Lucerne filed its easement survey on July 30, 2008, and the Wilsons filed their objections thereto on September 2, 2008. On May 5, 2009, the district court entered a Scheduling Order, requiring discovery to be completed by September 15, 2009, and setting the evidentiary hearing for November 9, 2009. [¶ 54] As mentioned above, the Wilsons disclosed Cotton Jones as a may call witness in a supplemental discovery response on August 25, 2009, and listed him again in the same capacity in their pre-trial disclosure of September 14, 2009. These filings resulted in Lucerne's motion in limine, the granting of which led to the issue now before the Court. It bears repeating at this point that, in its final order, the district court noted that Mr. Jones had not conducted his easement survey until October 2009, less than two weeks before the trial, and that the Wilsons had not complied with W.R.C.P. 26 in regard to his testimony. The proffer of Mr. Jones' testimony made at the end of the evidentiary hearing specifies October 28, 2009, as the date the survey occurred. There is no indication in the record that the survey report was provided to Lucerne prior to trial, or that the disclosures mandated by W.R.C.P. 26(a)(2) outlined above were ever made in the detail required by the rule. [¶ 55] Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in disallowing the testimony of the Wilsons' belatedly identified expert, Cotton Jones. The Wilsons have not presented compelling argument or citation to pertinent authority supporting their contention that Mr. Jones was merely an impeachment witness under W.R.C.P. 26(a)(3), rather than an expert witness under W.R.C.P. 26(a)(2). In addition, Lucerne filed its easement survey on July 30, 2008, the Wilsons filed their objection thereto on September 2, 2008, and the evidentiary hearing did not occur until November 9, 2009. The purpose of the remand was for the district court to determine the location of the eastern channel easement, and the record shows no justifiable excuse for the Wilsons' failure to file a survey report for more than a year after they clearly objected to the survey report presented to the district court by Lucerne.