Allstate Insurance Company et al v. Community Health Center, Inc. et al

Filing 427

ORDER AND REASONS ruling on objections to exhibits as set forth in document. Signed by Judge Helen Ginger Berrigan on 09/27/2013. (kac)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

ALLSTATE INSURANCE CO., ET AL.

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 08-810

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.,
ET AL.

SECTION “C” (5)

ORDER AND REASONS
IT IS ORDERED that:

1.

The defendants’ objection to Exhibit A is OVERRULED. Community’s patient
records are relevant to the treatment actually provided, the billing for which
plaintiffs allege was fraudulent.

2.

The defendants’ objections to Exhibits C and N are OVERRULED. Checks
issued by the plaintiffs to the defendants or third-party plaintiffs are relevant
indicators of economic damages allegedly suffered as a result of the plaintiffs’
alleged fraud and unjust enrichment.

3.

The defendants’ objections to Exhibits D, E, F, and G, reports of the plaintiffs’
expert witnesses, is OVERRULED for the time being, because defendants have
only objected to reports if the experts do not testify. The experts will testify, and,
therefore, the specific objection raised is moot.

4.

The defendants’ objections to Exhibits H, I, and J are SUSTAINED and

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OVERRULED as provided in the Court’s order and reasons on the defendant's
motions in limine. Rec. Doc. 390.
5.

The defendants’ objection to Exhibit O, the notes of Allstate employees on patient
files, is OVERRULED. The employees who prepared the files are competent to
testify as to their authenticity. Fed. R. Evid. 901.

6.

The defendants’ objection to Exhibit P, a spreadsheet of losses claimed by the
plaintiffs, is OVERRULED. The exhibit will be admissible upon the laying of
proper foundation under Fed. R. Evid. 1006, i.e., an offer of evidence sufficient to
establish that the exhibit is an accurate summary of voluminous and otherwise
admissible records, which were made available for inspection to the opposing
party at a reasonable time before the trial date.

7.

The plaintiffs objections to Exhibits Q, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, BB, CC, and DD,
affidavits of the defendant Kathy Hampton and various individuals associated
with the defendants' clinic, are SUSTAINED. Affidavits are inadmissible at trial
as hearsay under Fed. R. Evid. 801-802, unless the parties stipulate otherwise.

8.

The plaintiffs' objection to Exhibit R, records of the defendants' compensation to
Dr. Warren Williams, is OVERRULED. They are admissible at least for the
limited purpose of showing what Dr. Williams, a witness at trial, made while
working for on behalf of the defendants.

9.

The plaintiffs' objection to Exhibit Z, the 2011-2012 X-ray proficiency
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certificates, is OVERRULED. The objection goes to the weight to be given the
exhibits, not the admissibility.
10.

The plaintiffs' objection to Exhibit AA, Dr. Warren Williams's deposition
testimony, is moot since Dr. Williams will testify at trial.

11.

The plaintiffs' objections to Exhibits EE, FF, GG, and HH are OVERRULED.
The exhibits purport to be internal communications by the plaintiffs regarding
their scrutiny of the plaintiffs' billing requests. This is relevant to whether any of
the plaintiffs' fraud allegations have prescribed under state law and whether
certain alleged misrepresentations were relied upon in the plaintiffs' decision to
issue payments in particular cases.

12.

The plaintiffs’ objection to the tax returns of Kathy Hampton from 2008 to 2011,
is OVERRULED. They are relevant to her counterclaim for economic damages,
insofar as a the instant litigation can be shown to violate her reputational or civil
rights and a causal link can be established between the instant litigation and any
demonstrated decline in income.

13.

Both parties' objections to evidence noticed in the joint pretrial order, but not
included in the bench books or sought to be introduced during either party's case
in chief are OVERRULED.

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New Orleans, Louisiana, this 27th day of September, 2013.

______________________
HELEN G. BERRIGAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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