Verloic, G. v. Doe, J.

123 A.3d 781, 2015 Pa. Super. 194, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 522, 2015 WL 5316868
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 14, 2015
Docket121 EDA 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 123 A.3d 781 (Verloic, G. v. Doe, J.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Verloic, G. v. Doe, J., 123 A.3d 781, 2015 Pa. Super. 194, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 522, 2015 WL 5316868 (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION BY

SHOGAN, J.:

Appellants, John and/or Jane Doe, appeal from the trial court’s December 1, 2014, order granting Gary and Nancy Vel-oric’s motion to compel discovery. After careful review, we quash.

The trial court summarized the factual and procedural history of this case as follows:

[Appellees] Gary Veloric and Nancy Veloric [ (“the Velorics”) ] filed the Doe Motion seeking a court order compelling [Appellants] John Doe and Jane Doe to appear for a deposition. After briefing and argument, the [trial court] granted the relief requested by [the Velorics] and ordered the Doe(s) to appear for deposition (“the Doe Order.”). 3 The Doe(s) refused to appear and attend the deposition and filed the present appeal. Recently, as discussed in more detail below, [the Velorics] deposed Brad Hef-fler which in turn resulted in an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior" Court at Docket Number 2998 EDA 2014 (“the Heffler Appeal”.) Both the Héffler Appeal and the Doe Appeal involve motions to compel discovery in the underlying Complaint.
In the Complaint, [the Velorics] seek damages on behalf of Gary Veloric for defamation, slander, libel, injurious falsehood, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and, damages for loss of consortium on behalf of Nancy Veloric. [The Velorics] averred that Nancy Vel-oric received a phone call on January 18, 2012" from an unidentified woman (“Jane Doe”) who claimed to be Gary Veloric’s girlfriend and [Jane Doe] was angry because he was having sexual relations with another woman. Nancy Veloric questioned her husband regarding the phone call and he denied the anonymous caller’s claims. After some research, Nancy Veloric determined the phone number of the unidentified caller included a Nashville, Tennessee area code, and was no longer in service. Later in 2012, two emails were sent to Nancy Veloric, alleging additional infidelities by her husband. Gary Veloric denied these allegations.
[The Velorics] proceeded with discovery and issued subpoenas to third parties Brad and Andrea Heffler to attend and testify at depositions. The Velorics and the Hefflers share a litigious history dating back several years to a time when they shared a property line. 9 In the Heffler Appeal, Brad Heffler was deposed by [Appellants] on March 14, 2014 (“the Deposition”). Heffler invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer several questions posed to him during the Deposition.' [The Velorics] filed a motion to compel Brad Heffler’s testimony (“the Heffler Motion”), claiming that Heffler invoked the Fifth Amendment “to virtually every question.” After hearing 1 and argument (“the Hear.- *784 ing”), the [trial court] ordered Heffler to answer some of the ■ questions at issue and sustained his objections to others (“the Heffler Order”). Continuing to rely upon the Fifth Amendment and/or attorney client privilege, Heffler refused to answer those questions he was ordered to answer that were not otherwise resolved, and, the Heffler Appeal ensued.
In the present Appeal, the Doe(s) refused to appear and attend the scheduled deposition, despite the issuance of the Doe Order requiring them to do so. The Doe(s) refusal to attend was also based on Fifth Amendment grounds.

Trial Court Opinion, 4/13/15, at 1-4 (some internal footnotes omitted).

Appellants present the following issue for our review:

Did the lower court err in granting [the Velorics’] Motion to Compel the deposition^) of Appellant(s) where Appellants) asserted them privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and where compelling Appellant(s) to appear for their deposition(s) is tantamount to requiring them to relinquish their constitutional protections^]

Appellants’ Brief at 4.

Before addressing the merits of Appellants’ claims, we must determine whether this matter is properly before us. Pennsylvania law makes clear:

[A]n appeal may be taken from: (1) a final order or an order certified as a final order (Pa.R.A.P. 341); (2) an interlocutory order as of right (Pa.R.A.P. 311); (3) an interlocutory order by permission (Pa.R.A.P. 312, 1311, 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 702(b)); or (4) a collateral order (Pa.R.A.P. 313).

Berkeyheiser v. A-Plus Investigations, Inc., 936 A.2d 1117, 1123 (Pa.Super.2007). “A final order is one that disposes of all the parties and all the claims, is expressly defined as a final order by statute, or is entered as a final order pursuant to the trial court’s determination.” Id. (citing Pa. R.A.P. 341(b)(l)-(3)). “[T]he appealability of an order goes directly to the jurisdiction of the Court asked to review the order.” Berkeyheiser, 936 A.2d at 1123.

We further note that most “discovery orders are deemed interlocutory and not immediately appealable because they do not dispose of the litigation.” Dougherty v. Heller, 97 A.3d 1257, 1261 (Pa.Super.2014) (en banc) (citation omitted), appeal granted in part, — Pa. -, 109 A.3d 675 (2015). However, certain discovery orders, particularly those involving ostensibly privileged material, have been found to be immediately appealable as collateral orders pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313. Dougherty, 97 A.3d at 1261.

Appellants argue that this Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313. Appellants’ Brief at 9. The *785 Velorics, conversely, contend that this Court lacks jurisdiction over this matter, and that the order at issue is not a collateral order pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313. The Velorics’ Brief at 1-2. Accordingly, the Velorics assert, this Court should quash this appeal and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings. Id. at 2.

A collateral order is an order [1] separable from and collateral to the main cause of action where [2] the right involved is too important to be denied review and [3] the question presented is such that if review is postponed until final judgment in the case, the claim will be irreparably lost.

Pa.R.A.P. 313(b); Dougherty, 97 A.3d at 1261. “All three factors must be present before an order may be considered collateral.” Dougherty, 97 A.3d at 1261.

Additionally, in addressing collateral orders, our Supreme Court has explained:

[T]he collateral order doctrine is a specialized practical application of the general rule that only final orders are ap-pealable as of right. Thus, Rule 313 must be interpreted narrowly, and the requirements for an appealable collateral order remain stringent in order to prevent undue corrosion of the final order rule.

Melvin v. Doe, 576 Pa. 264, 836 A.2d 42

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
123 A.3d 781, 2015 Pa. Super. 194, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 522, 2015 WL 5316868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/verloic-g-v-doe-j-pasuperct-2015.