Opinions of the United 2005 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

4-21-2005

CBS Broadcasting Inc v. Echostar Comm Corp Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 04-2861

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Recommended Citation "CBS Broadcasting Inc v. Echostar Comm Corp" (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 1327. http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005/1327

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

No. 04-2861

CBS BROADCASTING, INC.

v.

ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION

EchoStar Communications Corporation, EchoStar Satellite Corporation, Satellite Communications Operating Corporation and DirectSat Corporation, Appellants

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA D.C. Misc. No. 02-mc-00402 District Judge: The Honorable Gary L. Lancaster

Argued: April 7, 2005

Before: BARRY, AMBRO, and GREENBERG, Circuit Judges

(Opinion Filed:April 21, 2005) Cynthia A. Ricketts, Esq. (Argued) Mark A. Nadeau, Esq. Mitchell W. Fleischmann, Esq. Squire, Sanders & Dempsey 40 North Central Avenue Suite 2700 Phoenix, AZ 85004 -AND- David J. Hickton, Esq. John Sieminski, Esq. Burns, White & Hickton 120 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2400 Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Counsel for Appellants

Neil K. Roman, Esq. (Argued) Covington & Burling 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004 -AND- Michael J. Manzo, Esq. Nancy E. Rostek, Esq. Klett, Rooney, Lieber & Scherling One Oxford Centre, 40 th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Counsel for Appellees

OPINION

BARRY, Circuit Judge

Echostar Communications Corp. (“Echostar”) appeals from an award of discovery

2 sanctions by the District Court. Although we have grave doubts as to the propriety of any

such sanctions on the record presented, we need not reach that question because Echostar

was denied notice and an opportunity to be heard before sanctions were ordered. See

Angelico v. Lehigh Valley Hospital, Inc.,

(3d Cir. 1999). We will,

therefore, vacate the District Court’s orders of April 17, 2003, May 27, 2004, and May

28, 2004 and remand this matter to the District Court for further proceedings in the event

that appellee continues to press its claim for sanctions.

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