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Gonzales v. Surgidev Corp.6/13/1995
contends that the court only found "that it was ' probable ' that damaging evidence was not produced and destroyed by [Appellant]." Appellant points out that Jaeger did not know the contents of the material he was storing; nor did he know, when Appellant's counsel made the "deep-six" comment, which specific materials were intended for destruction. Appellant argues that its counsel could have been referring to duplicate documents. Furthermore, because Jaeger's testimony was not based on first-hand knowledge, it was not credible. The question of credibility is appropriately resolved by the fact-finder and we will not reverse absent an abuse of discretion. See Newsome , . We find no abuse of discretion.
Finally, Appellant argues that the documents attached to Grendahl's deposition were never authenticated, were "not part of this appellate record, and therefore of no assistance" to prove that Appellant possessed these documents, that Appellant knew it had them, or that Appellant intentionally withheld them. We disagree. Grendahl produced the documents at a deposition taken in preparation for a lawsuit filed in New Jersey. Our concern is whether the documents existed when Appellant told Appellees in response to proper discovery requests that they did not. The fact that Appellant produced them under a deposition lends sufficient credibility for the purpose of sanctions. Appellant appears to be arguing that we should find its own sworn statement not credible. The relevance and authenticity of the documents are issues that would have been resolved in Surgidev I had they been properly produced.
Considering Appellant's general recalcitrance to cooperate in the discovery process throughout the entire trial and its willful withholding of information properly requested, we find the court's decision is not "without logic or reason, or . . . clearly unable to be defended." . Therefore, we find no abuse of discretion in imposing monetary sanctions. The court awarded $100,000 to cover the expense of obtaining "those things that just simply should have been provided [that Appellees were forced] to go chase down as hard as they could and ask for the protection of the Court," and $51,000 for attorney's fees, costs, and expenses.
IV
In Conclusion, we find SCRA 1-060 is not implicated when an award for sanctions concerns a collateral matter, namely, an abuse of the discovery process. Likewise, the statutory limitation of fourteen years on actions concerning a judgment is not applicable in an award of sanctions. Furthermore, we find an award of sanctions is authorized both under SCRA 1-037 and the court's inherent power and may be brought against a party for abuse of the judicial process at any time, subject to constitutional limitations or equitable defenses. We affirm.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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