Rivera v. Lettire Construction Corp.

Background

Plaintiff Roman De Gabriel Rivera, through counsel, submitted a letter asking the court for a temporary, limited protective order. The requested order would allow Rivera to delay producing two audio recordings of statements by non-party witness Guillermo Sanchez Melgarejo until after Melgarejo’s deposition, scheduled for August 15, 2022.

The letter states that the recordings concerned what Melgarejo allegedly saw during the event at issue. Rivera’s counsel said the recordings had not previously been disclosed because Rivera intended to use them only for possible impeachment. Counsel also stated that counsel for non-party witnesses had demanded the statements before the witnesses’ depositions and had indicated that the witnesses would not be produced otherwise.

Arguments in the Request

Rivera argued that producing the recordings before the deposition could allow Melgarejo to tailor his testimony to match the recordings. The letter cited decisions in which courts delayed production of audio or video recordings until after depositions for that reason. Rivera also argued that delaying production would preserve the recordings’ impeachment value while still allowing relevant discovery before trial, and that Melgarejo would not be prejudiced because he participated in the recorded conversations.

Court’s Action

The document does not rule on the requested protective order. Instead, Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker directed the defendants to file a response by 12:00 p.m. on August 11, 2022, because of the time-sensitive nature of the request. The text provided does not state a later decision on whether production of the recordings would be delayed.