Opinion ID: 2551505
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pendleton's Motion for Relief from His Admissions

Text: ¶ 43 In Langeland v. Monarch Motors, Inc., we addressed the effect of a party's failure to timely respond to a request for admissions. See 952 P.2d 1058, 1060-64 (Utah 1998). In that case, we explained: Requests for admission must be taken seriously, and answers or objections must be served promptly. The penalty for delay or abuse is intentionally harsh, and parties who fail to comply with the procedural requirements of rule 36 should not lightly escape the consequences of the rule. Id. at 1061. Rule 36 provides that the court may permit withdrawal or amendment [of the admission] when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the party who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or amendment will prejudice him in maintaining his action or defense on the merits. Utah R. Civ. P. 36(b). We explained in Langeland that in order to show that withdrawal or amendment promotes the presentation of the merits of the action, the party seeking amendment or withdrawal must (1) show that the matters deemed admitted against it are relevant to the merits of the underlying cause of action, and (2) introduce some evidence by affidavit or otherwise of specific facts indicating that the matters deemed admitted against it are in fact untrue. 952 P.2d at 1062. If the moving party fails to satisfy this two-part test, the nonmoving party is relieved of its burden under rule 36(b) to show that it would suffer prejudice as a result of the withdrawal or amendment, and the trial court has no discretion to grant the motion for relief from the admissions. See id. at 1063-64. ¶ 44 We thus turn to the instant case to determine whether Pendleton has met his burden of proving that relief from the admissions promotes the presentation of the merits of the action. First, under Langeland, Pendleton must show the relevance of the admissions to the merits of the disciplinary proceeding. See id. at 1062. The admissions are clearly relevant to the disciplinary proceeding against Pendleton because they involve Pendleton's possession, use, procurement, and distribution of methamphetamine, the allegations upon which the disciplinary proceeding was premised. Second, under Langeland, Pendleton must introduce evidence that the matters deemed admitted are untrue, and something more than a bare denial is required. Id. Pendleton has failed to meet this burden. His belated response to the OPC's request for admissions included denials of several of the requests, but he failed to support his denials with any supporting evidence or affidavit. Moreover, his motion for relief from the admissions merely contends that the default admissions have a prejudicial effect upon him. Again, he failed to present any evidence supporting his contention of prejudice or the falsity of the admissions. Thus, Pendleton has failed to meet his burden under rule 36(b) of establishing that relief from the admissions would promote the presentation of the merits of the action against him. As a result, as we explained in Langeland, 952 P.2d at 1063-64, because Pendleton failed to meet his burden under rule 36(b), the disciplinary court had no discretion to grant Pendleton's motion for relief from his admissions. Thus, the disciplinary court properly denied Pendleton's motion.