Wilson v. David

21 F.R.D. 217, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4473
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedDecember 6, 1957
DocketCiv. A. No. 2678
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 21 F.R.D. 217 (Wilson v. David) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. David, 21 F.R.D. 217, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4473 (W.D. Mich. 1957).

Opinion

KENT, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’s motion to require the defendant to produce the following: (1) any statement made by Bernard David, Jr. to his insurance company; (2) any statement made by the passenger riding in the car of the defendant, Bernard David, Sr., at the time of the accident complained of; (3) any statements obtained from any other witnesses; (4) any and all reports of investigators of the insurance company defending this action on behalf of Bernard David, Sr.; (5) any photographs of the scene of the accident or the vehicles, taken on behalf of the defendant; (6) any and all statements taken in connection with the investigation of this accident prior to the time suit was filed.

The suit in question arises out of an accident which occurred on the 8th day of November, 1953, in Lansing, Michigan, between an automobile in which the plaintiff was a passenger, and an automobile owned by the defendant, Bernard David, Sr. and driven by Bernard David, Jr., who was originally named as a party defendant. No service of process was obtained upon Bernard David, Jr., who at the time suit was instituted was absent from the jurisdiction and was on duty with the Armed Forces of the United States.

The defendant has agreed that he will furnish the items requested in number five above. He objects to the balance of the motion on the ground that there is no showing that the items existed, that they would be material, if they did exist, or that they are in the possession or control of the defendant. Defendant further objects to the motion on two grounds: (1) that any such material, if it exists, is in the hands of the liability insurer of the defendant, which is not a party to this action, and (2) that the plaintiff was not “a poor colored woman without funds to hire and pay investigators to obtain statements of persons with knowledge of the relevant facts.” The second ground is based on the claimed facts that the accident occurred on the 8th day of November, 1953, and that the plaintiff secured counsel prior to the 10th day of November, 1953, as appears from a letter addressed to the defendant’s driver under that date by Stuart J. Dunnings, Jr., an attorney-at-law, of Lansing, Michigan.

The question of the right of a party to secure material in the possession of the liability carrier of the other party is discussed in Simper v. Trimble, D.C., 9 F.R.D. 598, wherein the court held at page 599:

“It is a matter of common knowledge with which lawyers and judges [219]*219alike are familiar, that automobile liability insurance is a necessary and extensive business carried on in every part of the country. The books are teeming with reports of cases and the usual relationship existing between the insurance carrier and its assured. With probably no exception, one of the obligations of the insurer requires it to defend its policyholder in case of litigation arising from alleged collisions and injuries such as those claimed here. The insurer is obliged by its contract to take over the defense of the case, to furnish counsel for that purpose, as well as to incur the expense of procuring witnesses, and in all things to save the insured harmless from expenses and damages within the limits of the policy. It would be idle to say that an insurer thus obligated and in complete control and direction of the defense might be able to claim immunity from the usual obligations resting upon a litigant. For all practical purposes it is performing the exact functions and playing the precise role of an actual party to the litigation. That being true, it should be subject to the usual and reasonable rules of procedure, and especially with respect to discovery. Otherwise a litigant by contracting with a third party could nullify and evade the rules of procedure.”

Therefore, unless the other grounds in opposition to said motion are sufficient, the material in question should be produced by the defendant, or his insurance carrier which is acting for him, in this action.

Defendant further claims that the items in question have not been sufficiently identified. This has been answered in Atlantic Greyhound Corp. v. Lauritzen, 6 Cir., 182 F.2d 540, wherein the Court of Appeals sustained the order of the trial court requiring the production of any and all names and addresses' of witnesses, passengers on the bus, their statements, etc.

In the opinion of this court the identification “any” prefacing the items referred to in this motion to produce is sufficient identification to comply with the requirements of Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. As has been said in the Cyc. of Federal Proc. § 25.593, “a party should not be ordered to permit a general inspection of all his records simply because the movant does not know which documents are needed. Rule 34 refers to designated documents, and ‘designated' documents are those which can be identified with some reasonable degree of practicability.” Certainly the items requested in this motion can be identified with a great deal of practicability.

Defendant also contends that the motion for production is defective in that it does not set forth that the matters sought to be produced are not privileged. There is no case directly in point. However, in Samuel Goldwyn, Inc. v. United Artists Corporation, D.C., 35 F.Supp. 633, 638, the Court said:

“If any of the records are privileged, or if the examination is so conducted as to pry into the business secrets of Korda’s companies, or if he or they are harassed by the examination, the rules afford them protection through a proper application to the court.”

Thus, in this case if the defendant is of the opinion that some of the material in question is privileged, that is a matter for him to assert; under the provisions of Rule 30(b), wherein it is provided in part:

“ * * * Upon motion seasonably made by any party or by the person to be examined and upon notice and for good cause shown, the court in which the action is pending may make an order that the deposition shall not be taken. * *

[220]*220Rule 34, under which the present motion is instituted is expressly made subject to the provisions of Rule 30(b). It is clear that Rule 34 makes it an express good cause for denying the motion to produce that the matter sought is privileged. In order to take advantage of the protection afforded by the Rules the defendant must make a seasonable motion or application to the court pointing out the alleged privileged material.

Defendant further alleges that the plaintiff has failed to claim that the statements sought would be material, if they exist. It may well be that the plaintiff has failed to use the exact language deemed appropriate, but it has been stated in plaintiff’s motion: “In order to obtain a fair trial and place the parties upon a basis of equality in their preparation herein, the plaintiff is entitled to the relief herein above requested.” It should be obvious to any lawyer that statements made by a driver or passenger in an automobile involved in an accident which is the subject of litigation must necessarily be material.

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Bluebook (online)
21 F.R.D. 217, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4473, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-david-miwd-1957.