Court Opinion

ID: 9758742
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:43:09.2231+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:55.145479
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
dissenting:
The majority concludes that the trial court erred in allowing Appellees’ expert witnesses to testify on rebuttal and thus remands for a new trial. Since my review of the record shows no prejudice or surprise to Appellant from the *419introduction of the expert testimony nor any bad faith on the part of Appellees, I respectfully dissent. I would also then reach the remaining issues raised by Appellants and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
As I read the majority opinion, it relies on Appellees’ perceived failure to comply with the rules of discovery and the general belief that Appellees did not act in good faith in not retaining an arson expert or experts prior to trial. Specifically, the majority finds that Appellees’ experts should have been precluded from testifying under Rules 4003.5 and 4019 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, the majority infers bad faith by Appel-lees based on its finding that the pleadings gave ample notice to Appellees that Appellant would raise an arson defense at trial and that Appellees accordingly should have retained experts prior to trial who would then have been identified in answers to interrogatories or at the pre-trial conference. However, I feel the majority’s analysis is flawed because it has ignored prior well settled case law in this Commonwealth.
The issue of whether to admit expert testimony undisclosed prior to trial has been addressed several times by this Court. In Gill v. McGraw Electric Co., 264 Pa.Super. 368, 399 A.2d 1095 (1979), a decision relegated to a footnote by the majority, this Court en banc established the analytical framework within which to consider admission of previously undisclosed expert testimony. The Gill Court set forth four criteria relevant to such determination: 1) the prejudice or surprise in fact of the party against whom the excluded witnesses would have testified, 2) the ability of that party to cure the prejudice, 3) the extent to which waiver of the rule against calling unlisted witnesses would disrupt the orderly and efficient trial of the case or other cases in the court, and 4) bad faith or willfulness in failing to comply with a pre-trial order limiting witnesses to be called to those named prior to trial. Id., 264 Pa.Superior Ct. at 382, 399 A.2d at 1102. Thus, under Gill, the trial judge still can admit, in his sound discretion, previously undis*420closed expert testimony despite the fact that the rules of discovery or a pre-trial conference order were not wholly complied with by a party.
The most recent pronouncement of this Court on the issue of the admission of previously undisclosed expert testimony is Kemp v. Qualls, 326 Pa.Super. 319, 473 A.2d 1369 (1984). This Court stated in Kemp:
While the late disclosure of the identity or qualifications of an expert is to be condemned, the mere occurrence of such a circumstance does not per se create grounds for a new trial. In Gill v. McGraw Electric Co., 264 Pa.Super. 368, 399 A.2d 1095 (1979), a case cited by the Appellant, this Court declared that to preclude expert testimony, in the circumstance of late disclosure of information about him to the adverse party, is a drastic sanction, and unless necessary under the facts of the case, may be the basis for finding an abuse of discretion by the trial judge. Our Court also considered whether the sanction of preclusion of expert testimony should be granted, due to untimely response to pre-trial interrogatories, in the case of Royster v. McGowan Ford, Inc., 294 Pa.Super. 160, 439 A.2d 799 (1982). There it was stated: “... [Ajssuming that a party has not acted in bad faith and has not misrepresented the existence of an expert expected to be called at trial, no sanction should be imposed unless the complaining party shows that he has been prejudiced from properly preparing his case for trial as the result of a dilatory disclosure”. 294 Pa.Super. at 169, 439 A.2d at 804.
Id., 326 Pa.Superior Ct. at 330, 473 A.2d at 1374.
The majority attempts, in footnote three of its opinion, to portray the Gill criteria as merely “of some aid” in ruling on the admissibility of undisclosed expert testimony citing in support this Court’s decision in Sindler v. Goldman, 309 Pa.Super. 7, 454 A.2d 1054 (1982). However, a close reading of Sindler reveals that this Court did employ the Gill criteria in reaching our holding. Further, the portion of Sindler cited by the majority was only a footnote which the *421majority has somehow misinterpreted. Footnote eight of this Court’s opinion in Sindler merely states that the Gill, a case involving a violation of a pre-trial order, can be applied to cases in which no pretrial order limiting witnesses has been entered. Id., 309 Pa.Superior Ct. at 15, n. 8, 454 A.2d at 1058, n. 8. The majority interprets the footnote as rendering the Gill analysis merely advisory, a fact evident from its failure to employ such criteria in the body of its opinion. It is true that the majority concludes in footnote three of its opinion that the Appellees’ experts would have been precluded from testifying under Gill, but the majority offers no reasoning to support its conclusions. In fact, were the majority to employ a Gill analysis, as I believe it was bound to do, it would have concluded as I do that the trial court properly permitted Appellees’ experts to testify on rebuttal.
In the instant case, Appellees were permitted by the trial court to testify on rebuttal to contradict the opinion of Appellant’s expert that the fire which destroyed Appellees’ residence was arson. On appeal, Appellant cites Gill and argues it was prejudiced and surprised by Appellees’ expert testimony. I am unable to agree. Appellant was not in fact surprised because it had raised the issue of arson and thus was fully prepared to argue the point at trial. Given this fact, Appellant was also not prejudiced since it had a full and fair opportunity to present its defense, cross-examine Appellees’ experts and offer surrebuttal testimony. If Appellant was truly prejudiced or surprised, it could have cured the prejudice by a continuance, which it did not request. The testimony of Appellees’ experts on rebuttal may have been unexpected, but it was not prejudicial or surprising to Appellant.
When the remaining two prongs of the Gill analysis are applied it becomes apparent that the testimony of Appel-lees’ experts was properly admitted. There can be no serious contention that the calling of Appellees’ expert disrupted the trial or other trials since the trial was only extended a few more days. Finally, I also believe that *422there is no evidence in the record to support a contention that Appellees acted in bad faith by not disclosing their experts prior to trial or in not obtaining arson experts prior to trial. The basis of the majority’s finding of bad faith is solely that Appellees should have been on notice from the pleadings that Appellant would raise the defense of arson. However, a reading of the pleadings shows that while there was some mention of a suspicious cause for the fire in question the defense of arson was never squarely raised until the pre-trial conference, a fact conceded by the majority. Further, when it became apparent, to Appellees at trial that the cause of the fire was being specifically put in issue by Appellant, they expeditiously secured expert witnesses and made their presence known prior to the experts’ testimony.1 There is no other evidence in the record to even infer a finding of bad faith much less a willful and deliberate attempt by Appellees to circumvent and make a mockery of the rules of discovery. The majority takes the position, as I perceive it, that to not exclude the expert testimony here would render the rules of discovery and the sanctions thereunder useless. I do not share this view. While we should never condone violations of the discovery rules we also have recognized that the exclusion of expert testimony is a serious sanction and should only be imposed in certain situations. This is why this Court adopted criteria for exclusion in Gill and applied those criteria in cases following Gill. Had the majority of this Court fully considered and applied the Gill criteria I cannot help but think that it would have reached the same conclusion as I that the trial court was correct in its decision allowing Appellees’ experts to testify.
*423Since I would affirm the trial court’s decision on the expert testimony, I would also reach the remaining issues raised by Appellant and find that the trial court opinion correctly and adequately disposes of the issues presented. Thus, I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.

. In its opinion, the majority infers that Appellees were somehow required to anticipate and meet Appellant’s arson defense. It must be noted that Appellees were in no way required, under the facts, to introduce expert testimony to disprove arson or even prove their case. Appellees were not required to prove a negative. It was Appellant’s burden to prove arson which it attempted to do through expert testimony. It was only on rebuttal that Appellees felt it necessary to utilize expert testimony. Under the facts, I do not find it unusual, and certainly not bad faith, that Appellees waited until necessary to retain an expert.