Brodess v. Bagent, Unpublished Decision (1-6-2005)
Brodess v. Bagent, Unpublished Decision (1-6-2005)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Wynette Brodess, plaintiff-appellant, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, in which the court granted certain costs to Paul F. Bagent, defendant-appellee.{¶ 2} On January 9, 2001, appellant and appellee were involved in a motor vehicle accident. On March 14, 2002, appellant filed a complaint alleging she suffered physical injuries and property damage as a result of the negligence of appellee. By agreement without court order, the parties agreed to arrange an independent medical examination ("IME"). Appellee arranged for the IME to be performed by Dr. Martin Gottesman on November 20, 2002, which was later rescheduled to October 30, 2002. On October 4, 2002, appellant notified appellee that she objected to using Dr. Gottesman. Notwithstanding, appellee rescheduled an examination with Dr. Gottesman for October 24, 2002. On October 9, 2002, appellee filed a motion to compel appellant to appear before Dr. Gottesman. On October 30, 2002, the trial court found that appellant had set forth a legitimate basis for her objection to Dr. Gottesman and denied the motion to compel. The parties then agreed for appellant to be examined by Dr. Schlonsky.
{¶ 3} On February 6 and 7, 2003, appellant took the videotaped trial depositions of Drs. Kenneth Schone and Bruce Kay, respectively. On January 29, 2003, appellee took the videotaped trial deposition of Dr. Schlonksy.
{¶ 4} A jury trial was held in February 2003, and the jury found in favor of appellee. Appellee then filed a motion to tax costs on May 12, 2003. On May 18, 2004, the trial court issued a decision sustaining in part and denying in part appellee's motion to tax costs. On June 1, 2004, the trial court entered an order awarding appellee costs of $1,211.83 for: (1) $56.30 for the costs of videotape copies of the deposition of Drs. Kay and Schone; (2) a $250 "no-show" fee relating to appellant's failure to appear at the disputed October 24, 2002 appointment with Dr. Gottesman; and (3) $905.53 for costs associated with the videotaped deposition of Dr. Schlonsky used at trial. Appellant appeals the judgment of the trial court, asserting the following assignments of error:
I. The Court of Common Pleas erred in granting Defendant-Appellee's Motion for Costs by charging as a cost the cost of the videotapes used to record the Defendant-Appellee's expert witness depositions.
II. The Court of Common Pleas erred in granting Defendant-Appellee's Motion for Costs by charging as a cost the fee incurred by Defendant-Appelle[e] for the failure of Plaintiff-Appellant to appear at a disputed, non-court ordered, defense medical examination.
III. The Court of Common Pleas erred in granting Defendant-Appellee's Motion for Costs by charging as a cost the expense of recording and playing of a video deposition of Defendant-Appellee's medical expert when such cost shall be bourne [sic] by the court.
{¶ 5} Appellant argues in her first assignment of error that the trial court erred by granting appellee's motion for costs by charging as a cost the cost of the videotapes used to record the defendant-appellee's expert witness depositions. Civ.R. 54(D) provides: "Except when express provision therefor is made either in a statute or in these rules, costs shall be allowed to the prevailing party unless the court otherwise directs." The phrase "unless the court otherwise directs" has been held to grant courts the discretion to order the prevailing party to endure part or all of their own costs. Vance v. Roedersheimer (1992),
{¶ 6} Appellant maintains that the trial court erred in awarding appellee $56.30 for the costs incurred in obtaining copies of the video depositions of Drs. Kay and Schone from appellant. Appellee concedes it was error for the trial court to award as costs such fees under Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio 13(D)(4). We agree. Therefore, appellant's first assignment of error is sustained.
{¶ 7} Appellant argues in her second assignment of error that the trial court erred in awarding appellee the costs incurred for the failure of appellant to appear at Dr. Gottesman's October 24, 2002 medical examination. The trial court awarded appellee the $250 "no-show" fee that appellee was charged because appellant did not attend the examination with Dr. Gottesman on October 24, 2002. We find this was error. On October 4, 2002, appellant's counsel mailed a letter to counsel for appellee specifically stating that he had advised appellant not to attend the medical examination, scheduled at that time for October 30, 2002, and informing appellee's counsel the reason for such. Appellee acknowledged appellant's refusal by filing a motion on October 9, 2002, to compel appellant's attendance. Appellant then filed a memorandum contra, again reiterating that appellant would not be attending the examination and outlining the reasons for such. Appellee clearly had more than sufficient notice of appellant's refusal to attend the examination in order to cancel the appointment with Dr. Gottesman in a timely manner. Appellee simply failed to cancel this appointment and cannot now seek remuneration for this cost. It is also worthy of note that the trial court subsequently found appellant had a legitimate basis for her objection to the examination by Dr. Gottesman, thereby evincing appellant's opposition was in good faith and not for harassment or delay. Accordingly, appellant's second assignment of error is sustained.
{¶ 8} Appellant argues in her third assignment of error that the trial court erred in awarding appellee the $905.53 incurred in costs associated with the videotaped trial deposition of Dr. Schlonsky. The bill submitted by appellee includes charges for the following 14 items: (1) attendance of court reporter — $19; (2) attendance of court reporter overtime — $114; (3) original transcript-med/tech-expedited — $340.20; (4) same-side copy — $40.50; (5) filing fee — $20; (6) exhibit copying charges — $1.50; (7) Rule 13 objection log-labor — $20; (8) Min-U-Script conversion — $15; (9) attendance of videographer for first hour — $125; (10) attendance of videographer for each additional half-hour — $150; (11) video materials used for original — $15; (12) videotape copy — $20; (13) delivery — $7.50; and (14) tax — $17.83.
{¶ 9} We first note that appellee argues appellant waived any argument with respect to the individual charges comprising the award of $905.53 for the video deposition of Dr. Schlonsky because appellant only contested the total $905.53 charge as a whole in the trial court. However, after reviewing the record, we find appellant sufficiently put the individual charges in dispute by contesting, in her memorandum contra, the various charges in groups according to category of expense and relevant case law, rather than delineating each individual charge. Therefore, appellee's contention is without merit.
{¶ 10} Appellant concedes that items six, nine, and ten above are reasonable costs; therefore, we will not address them. As for the other charges, in Williamson v. Ameritech Corp. (1998),
{¶ 11} We will address the expenses above in an order more suitable for analysis rather than in numerical order. With regard to item three, we find the trial court properly awarded such as costs. As explained above, the Ohio Supreme Court in Williamson held that the awarding of costs is one of statutory allowance and control, and for costs to be awarded to a party, there must be a specific statute that authorizes such costs to be taxed and included in the judgment. In Raab v. Wenrich (Feb. 22, 2001), Montgomery App. No. 19066, the appellate court found that R.C.
When it is necessary in an appeal, or other civil action to procure a transcript of a judgment or proceeding, or exemplification of a record, as evidence in such action or for any other purpose, the expense of procuring such transcript or exemplification shall be taxed in the bill of costs and recovered as in other cases.
{¶ 12} The court in Raab reasoned that the expense of procuring a transcript of an expert's videotaped deposition could be taxed as a cost under R.C.
{¶ 13} In the present case, we find the above three requirements were met. With regard to the first requirement, Dr. Schlonsky's deposition transcript was of a "proceeding" or was an "exemplification" of the videotape recording. With respect to the second requirement, although appellee does not allege that the transcript was used "as evidence," R.C.
{¶ 14} Further, we also note that some appellate courts have interpreted Williamson to prohibit the award of any expenses associated with transcripts of depositions as costs under any circumstances. See, e.g., Wells v. Hoppel (Jan. 30, 2001), Columbiana App. No. 99-CO-59; andNew Dimensions, Inc. v. Bixler (Feb. 11, 2002), Stark App. No. 2001CA00238. However, Williamson is not so broad. The syllabus inWilliamson provides only that R.C.
{¶ 15} With regard to charges in items one and two above, Williamson
requires statutory authority for taxing an expense as a cost. Appellee points to no statutory authority authorizing the attendance of a court reporter at a deposition to be taxed as costs. R.C.
{¶ 16} With regard to items four, five, seven, and eight, these appear to be additional charges incurred beyond the standard fee associated with procuring the original transcript. There is no evidence that these expenses were "necessary" for any purpose, pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 17} Accordingly, appellant's first and second assignments of error are sustained, and appellant's third assignment of error is sustained in part and overruled in part. As we have found that the trial court committed error prejudicial to appellant and that the judgment should be modified as a matter of law, pursuant to our authority under App.R. 12(B), we modify the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas May 18, 2004 decision and entry, and enter judgment in favor of appellee for $616.50.
Judgment affirmed as modified.
Bryant and Klatt, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wynette Brodess v. Paul F. Bagent
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Unpublished