Duren et al v. E I duPont de Nemours and Company et al

Filing 147

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 143 Motion for Costs, as set forth in this Order. The Court directs the Clerk to tax in costs $18,911.92 against DuPont. Signed by Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. on 8/16/12. (kpr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
JAMES DUREN; ANN DUREN;
J.J.'S TRUCK STOP, INC.; and
AL'S TRUCK STOP OF MALVERN, INC.

v.

PLAINTIFFS

No. 4:09-cv-713-DPM

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND
COMPANY

DEFENDANT

ORDER
The Court appreciates the parties' efforts to sort out the costs issues by
agreement. The agreed $16,294.42 in expenses for fees of the Clerk and
Marshal, fees for copies, and fees for witnesses are approved as authorized by
Rule 54(d) and 28 U.S.C. § 1920.
Here are the Court's rulings on the disputed issues. The requested
expert witness fees- except $40 for Jim Pate- are disallowed under settled
precedent. Crawford Fitting Co. v. ]. T. Gibbons, Inc., 482 U.S. 437,441-45 (1987);

see also 28 U.S.C. § 1821(b). The requested fees for personal process servers
are likewise disallowed.

As DuPont points out, the statute authorizes

payment only for service by the Marshal. 28 U.S.C. § 1920(1); Crues v. KFC

Corp., 768 F.2d 230, 234 (8th Cir. 1985). Third, the examples of TV news
reports. They were exemplifications, to use the statute's word, albeit not the

copies one usually thinks of. Exemplification is" [t ]he action of exemplifying;
showing or illustrating by example; an instance of this." V THE OXFORD
ENGLISH DICTIONARY 526 (2d ed. 1989). The clips illustrated by example,
showing what TV watchers were seeing about the incident at J.J.'s. As
originally proposed, the clips were duplicative and contained unduly
prejudicial material.

But the Court ordered the cure, including video

favorable to DuPont, which the Court believes made the overall presentation
fair to both sides. Considering all the circumstances, the Court exercises its
discretion to award the total cost of preparing these illustrative videos for the
jll:ry- $2,577.50. (This figure also includes the cost of editing Brooks Crain's
video deposition, as the Court ordered on DuPont's motion.) The Court
directs the Clerk to tax in costs $18,911.92 against DuPont.
So Ordered.

D.P. Marshall Jr.
United States District Judge

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