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holding that a fine of $2,995,000 payable to the Court Registry "is particularly appropriate here because [the Court has] no way of knowing what, if any, value destroyed emails had to Plaintiff's case; [therefore] . . . it [is] impossible to fashion a proportional evidentiary sanction that would accurately target the discovery violation. . . . [Yet], it is essential that such conduct be deterred . . . and that the amount of the monetary sanction fully reflect the reckless disregard and gross indifference displayed by [defendants] toward their discovery and document preservation obligations"
Summary of this case from Passlogix, Inc. v. 2FA Technology, LLCOpinion
Civil Action No. 99-2496 (GK).
July 21, 2004
ORDER #601
Before the Court is Joint Defendants' Motion for Leave to Depose Dr. Gary Huber. Upon consideration of Joint Defendants' Motion, the United States' Opposition thereto, and the entire record herein, the Court concludes that the Motion must be denied for the following reasons:
1. The Motion is approximately two years old. Under Order #37, fact witness depositions were to be completed by July 1, 2002, and under Order #51, ¶ II.B, third-party document productions were to be initiated by December 1, 2002.
2. Trial is less than two months away. Granting the Motion would, despite Joint Defendants' representations to the contrary, disrupt the United States' and the Court's trial preparation efforts.
3. Joint Defendants rely almost entirely on facts which have been known to them since the United States first identified Dr. Huber on its witness list on December 3, 2001.
4. Joint Defendants have offered no convincing or persuasive explanation or justification for their extraordinary delay in seeking to take this third-party fact witness deposition — and documents — two months before trial.
5. The United States would be prejudiced by the granting of this Motion.