Jordan v. Ensco Offshore Company

Filing 163

ORDER AND REASONS that Plaintiff's 120 Objections to a designation of Forrest Phelp's deposition is OVERRULED. Signed by Judge Susie Morgan.(bwn)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
KEVIN JORDAN,
Plaintiff

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 15-1226

ENSCO OFFSHORE COMPANY,
Defendant

SECTION: “E” (1)

ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is Plaintiff Kevin Jordan’s objection to a designation of Forrest
Phelps’s deposition. 1 For the following reasons, the objection is OVERRULED.
Plaintiff’s sole objection to the designations of Justin Clifton’s deposition is to Page
35, line 8, through Page 36, line 15. 2 This excerpt of Mr. Phelps’s deposition is as follows:
Q.

All right. Do you remember Kent Killion, the day after Kevin Jordan
claims that he injured his hand on the rig, addressing in the pretour
meeting, that no matter how minor the injury, it has to be reported
right away?
MR. ADAMS:
Objection, hearsay
THE WITNESS:
Yes.

EXAMINATION BY MR. SCHWARTZ:
Q.

Did you attend that pretour meeting?

A.

I did attend the pretour meeting.

Q.

Okay. And you heard him say that?

A.

Yes.
MR. ADAMS:
Objection. Hearsay.

1
2

R. Doc. 120.
See id.
1

MR. SCHWARTZ:
Your objection’s to hearsay? Is that correct?
MR. ADAMS:
He’s testifying what he heard somebody else say
MR. SCHWARTZ:
Well, he attended the meeting. It’s not what somebody else
said. It’s something he’s required to attend everyday and he
heard it happen. So, yes, I believe that’s not hearsay. I think
the objection -MR. ADAMS:
I maintain my objection.
MR. SCHWARTZ:
I understand. I appreciate that. 3
Plaintiff argues the foregoing testimony should be excluded because it is hearsay. 4
The Court disagrees. The statement is not being offered to prove the truth of the matter
asserted, i.e., the truth of what Mr. Killion stated during the pretour meeting. Rather, the
statement is being offered to establish that the statement was in fact made, regardless of
its truth. 5 This objected-to excerpt of Mr. Phelps’s deposition is, by definition, not
hearsay. The testimony is admissible, and the objection is OVERRULED.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 20th day of May, 2016.

__________ _ _______ __ _______
SUSIE MORGAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

R. Doc. 120-1 at 11.
R. Doc. 120 at 1–2.
5 See, e.g., Lott v. Forrest Cnty., No. 2:14-CV-131-KS-MTP, 2016 WL 1050296, at *1 (S.D. Miss. Mar. 16,
2016) (“Here, the statements Cooley is testifying to are not offered to prove the truth of the subject of the
statements, but rather to prove that the statements were made, regardless of their truth. This portion of
the deposition, then, is not inadmissible as hearsay.”).
3

4

2