Popovich v. Indiana Department of State Revenue

7 N.E.3d 406, 2014 WL 1641361, 2014 Ind. Tax LEXIS 14
Indiana Tax Court·Decided April 24, 2014·No. No. 49T10-1010-TA-53·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

ORDER ON PETITIONER’S FIRST MOTION TO COMPEL AND RESPONDENT’S MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER

WENTWORTH, J.

This matter involves Nick Popovich’s first Motion to Compel the Indiana Department of State Revenue to respond to fifty-three (53) of his discovery requests and the Department’s Motion for Protective Order that seeks to protect from disclosure the information and documents requested by Popovich.1 The Court grants the parties’ motions in part and denies them in part.2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2007, the Department audited Popovich for the 2002 through 2004 tax years. (See Resp’t App. Vol. I at 198, 206.) At the conclusion of the audit, the Department issued an investigation summary to Popovich explaining that because Popovich was not a professional gambler, he was not entitled to certain business expense deductions. (Resp’t App. Vol. I at 206-15.) Accordingly, the Department issued Proposed Assessments to Popovich for additional income tax, interest, and penalties.3 (See Resp’t App. Vol. I at 231-40.)

Popovich protested the Department’s Proposed Assessments. On August 3, 2010, after conducting a hearing, the Department issued a Letter of Findings (LOF) upholding each of the Proposed Assessments. (Resp’t App. Vol. I at 196-205.)

On October 4, 2010, Popovich appealed to the Tax Court. On June 3, 2011, Popovich served the Department with his first set of discovery requests, which consisted of 19 requests for admission, 43 separately numbered interrogatories, and 21 separately numbered requests for production. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. A at 5-70.) [410] In response, the Department objected to providing the information sought in 38 of the 43 interrogatories and 15 of the 21 requests for production because it was either protected as confidential information under Indiana Code § 6-8.1-7-1 or protected from disclosure by the work-product, attorney-client, and deliberative process privileges.4 (Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. A at 15-70.) In addition, the Department objected to all of these requests as oppressive, ambiguous, and unduly burdensome; compound questions; seeking legal conclusions; or seeking information that was equally available to Popovich from other sources. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. A at 15-70.)

On August 26, 2011, Popovich sent a nine (9) page Deficiency Notice to the Department asserting that its objections were improper and most of its answers were incomplete. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. B.) Popovich asked for a response within ten days and indicated a willingness to meet to discuss the matter as required under Indiana Trial Rule 26(F). (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. B at 1, 9.) Four days later, the Department responded that it would supplement its discovery responses at a later date because the “artificially-created ten-day deadline” was unreasonable. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. C.)

On September 9, 2011, Popovich renewed the offer to schedule an informal Trial Rule 26(F) meeting to resolve the discovery disputes. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. D.) In response, the Department indicated that it would supplement its responses by October 21, 2011. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. E; Resp’t App. Vol. IV at 963-64.) Popovich agreed to this timing on the conditions that the Department cure all alleged deficiencies and not raise additional objections or counter arguments to the discovery requests without advising Popovich of its intent to do so before the agreed deadline. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. F at 1-2.)

On October 21, 2011, the Department supplemented its discovery responses. All of the Department’s supplemental responses provided the following additional language in support of its previously asserted objections:

The [Department] objects to the extent this Interrogatory improperly seeks matters protected by the work-product, attorney client, administrative judicial, or the deliberative process privilege(s). Furthermore, the [Department] objects to the Interrogatory to the extent it improperly seeks to pry into the hearing officer’s decisionmaking process, and, therefore, will not lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. To allow such requests would violate the Indiana Supreme Court’s adherence “to the general bar against probing the mental processes involved in administrative decision-makers’ deliberations.” See, e.g., Medical Licensing Bd. of Ind. v. Provisor, 669 N.E.2d 406, 409 (Ind.1996) (citing Marion Co. Sheriff's Merit Bd. v. Peoples Broadcasting Corp., 547 N.E.2d 235, 240 (Ind.1989)). “[Inquiries into the private motivation or reasoning of administrative decision-makers is a substantial intrusion into the functions of the other branches of the government.” Id. at 410 (Ind.1996) (citing Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 268 n. 18 [97 S.Ct. 555, 50 L.Ed.2d 450] (1977))[ ]; [411] Baseball, Inc. v. Ind. Dep’t of State Revenue, 672 N.E.2d 1368, 1375-76 (Ind.Ct.App.1996); Ind. Trial Rule 26(B)(3).

(See, e.g., Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. G at 9-11.)

On November 9, 2011, Popovich sent the Department a twenty-one (21) page letter that outlined the alleged deficiencies in the Department’s original and supplemental responses and stated that he was “not seeking to pry into the manner in which [the] hearing officer considered or evaluated any evidence in reaching his or her decision.” (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. H at 20.) Popovich’s letter also renewed the request for an informal Trial Rule 26(F) meeting and warned that without some resolution, the filing of a motion to compel was imminent. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. H at 21.)

The Department responded the next day, expressing surprise that Popovich still considered its original and supplemental responses deficient because the Department had fully complied with the discovery rules. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. I.) The Department stated its willingness to meet, but not until the week of December 5, 2011, given the holidays and scheduling conflicts. (See Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. I.) Popovich responded the following week, explaining that while still willing to meet, the week of December 5th was too late to forestall his filing of a motion to compel. (Pet’r Mot. Compel, Ex. J.) On November 22, 2011, Popovich filed his first Motion to Compel.

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Popovich v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 7 N.E.3d 406, 2014 WL 1641361, 2014 Ind. Tax LEXIS 14 (Ind. Super. Ct. 2014).

7 N.E.3d 406 (Popovich v. Indiana Department of State Revenue) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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