Texts To Witness During Deposition Draw Suspension

Witness coaching by text message at a deposition drew a 91-day suspension from the Florida Supreme Court

James represented the employer in a worker’s compensation case. On July 31, 2018, Renee Gray, the adjuster who worked for the employer, was deposed via telephone. Gray, James, and the claimant’s counsel, Toni Villaverde, attended the deposition via telephone, from different locations. Because the deposition was not conducted by video, the court reporter refused to swear Gray in as a witness, making her testimony unsworn. While the deposition was in progress and Villaverde was questioning Gray, James sent text messages to Gray regarding her testimony. The texts included coaching and specific directions on how to respond to Villaverde’s  questions.

A misdirected text caused the misconduct to unravel

Villaverde could hear typing sounds and asked Gray and James if they were engaging in texting during the deposition. James denied texting Gray and stated he was only receiving a text from his daughter. Villaverde asked James to stop texting and put his phone away, and James agreed. James misrepresented to Villaverde that he had concluded the text messaging when in fact he had not. After a break, and after Villaverde resumed questioning Gray, James inadvertently sent the following text messages intended for Gray to Villaverde:
11:53 a.m. (James): Just say it anyway
11:53 a.m. (James): Just say 03/28
11:54 a.m. (James): In addition to the 03/28/2018 email containing the signed release I show . . .
11:55 a.m. (James): Don’t give an absolute answer
11:55 a.m. (James): All I can see at this time but I cannot rule out existence
11:55 a.m. (James): It’s a trap
11:56 a.m. (James): Then say that is my best answer at this
time.

Once Villaverde noticed the texts, she stopped the deposition. She later filed a motion for production and in-camera inspection of all the texts sent during the deposition.

In the bar proceeding

During the disciplinary proceedings, James testified that he was unable to retrieve the texts from his daughter due to his own technological limitations. He explained that worker’s compensation proceedings are informal, and he felt compelled to aid his witness during the deposition because Villaverde was constantly talking over Gray’s answers or interrupting with speaking objections, and he felt Gray was being mistreated. The referee found that James’s texts to Gray while she was being questioned, telling her what to say, how to answer, to avoid providing certain information, to remember a deposition but not discuss certain checks, and to not give an absolute answer were dishonest.

Furthermore, the record shows that after the deposition ended, and in the days following the deposition, James tried to convince Villaverde that he sent the texts to Gray during the break, not during the questioning. During a hearing on Villaverde’s motion for production and in-camera inspection, James failed to be transparent and forthright with the judge regarding his texts to Gray. He made it appear that he only texted his wife and daughter during the deposition and that he sent the text messages to Gray during the break in the deposition.

Violation

Here, the referee specifically found that James’s response that he was just responding to his daughter when in fact texts were being sent to Gray was misleading and a matter contrary to honesty. He also found that James misrepresented to Villaverde that he had concluded the text messaging when in fact he had not. The referee further found that James’s texts to Gray while she was being questioned, telling her what to say, how to answer, to avoid providing certain information, to remember a deposition but not discuss certain checks, and to not give an absolute answer were dishonest. James’s dishonesty is clear from the record, and we find him guilty of violating Bar Rule 4-8.4(d).

The referee's proposed 30 day suspension was insufficient

James obstructed opposing counsel’s access to evidence when he secretly coached Gray while she was being questioned, telling her how to answer Villaverde’s questions and directing her to avoid providing certain information. This conduct continued even after he assured Villaverde that he would stop texting during the deposition. Thereafter, he repeatedly misrepresented to Villaverde that he did not send text messages to Gray during the deposition. Particularly egregious was his failure to be forthright with the Judge of Compensation Claims about sending the text messages to Gray and about when he sent them. We find that James’s behavior warrants a ninety-one-day suspension.

Reinstatement is not automatic for a suspension of more than 90 days. (Mike Frisch)