Bell v. Treasure Chest Casino, L.L.C., 938 So.2d 61 (La., 2006)
Feb 22, 2007OUTCOME: The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the court of appeal and reinstated the judgment of the trial court.
FACTS and PROCEDURAL HISTORY On July 14, 2004, the plaintiff, Linda Duncan Bell (Bell), was allegedly struck in the back by a pushcart and injured while playing a slot machine at the Treasure Chest ... Casino (Treasure Chest). The pushcart was operated by Juanita Morgan, a Treasure Chest employee. At the time of the accident, Treasure Chest operated security cameras throughout the casino, one of which captured the event on videotape. After Bell filed the instant suit, she propounded discovery to Treasure Chest, asking that the videotape be produced. Treasure Chest refused to produce the videotape, stating that it contained impeachment evidence which was not required to be produced until after Bell was deposed, according to this Court's opinion in Wolford v. JoEllen Smith Psychiatric Hosp., 96-2460 (La.5/20/97), 693 So.2d 1164. Following Bell's filing of a motion to compel, the trial court ordered Treasure Chest to produce the videotape within fourteen days. Treasure Chest appealed the decision, and the court of appeal, citing Wolford, summarily reversed, stating that the plaintiff had not set forth special circumstances which would warrant pre-deposition production of the videotape. The narrow issue before the Court was whether Treasure Chest was required to produce a surveillance videotape of the actual accident which was created for purposes other than impeachment, prior to plaintiff's deposition.
