A defendant in a personal injury action cannot grill the plaintiff in a second pretrial deposition before turning over its video surveillance tapes of the allegedly injured litigant, a state judge in Manhattan has ruled, unless the defendant shows the plaintiff’s testimony was inadequate to cover the issues raised by the tapes.
Justice Karla Moskowitz ruled from the bench last month in a medical malpractice action, Bernstone v. New York University Medical Center, and issued a written opinion filed in Supreme Court, New York County, IA Part 26, 119057/95. The matter had come up on the eve of trial when counsel for a surgeon, Dr. Jordan Brown, who was accused of botching two procedures while treating Alvin Bernstone for prostate cancer, demanded another deposition of Mr. Bernstone before turning over surveillance tapes as required by New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules �3101(i).
