Laramore v. City of Kenosha et al
Filing
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ORDER signed by Judge J P Stadtmueller on 12/21/09 that the defendant shall be entitled to recover his costs in the amended amount of $l,092.82 from plaintiff. See Order. (cc: all counsel)(nm)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
____________________________________________ Y A S IN LARAMORE, as father and next best friend of HAKEEM JOHNSON, a minor, P l a i n t if f , v. J O S H U A ZELLER, D e fe n d a n t. ____________________________________________ Case No. 07-CV-367
ORDER
O n November 18, 2008, following a jury trial in this matter, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant. Accordingly, on November 19, 2008, the court e n te re d judgment in favor of defendant, dismissing this case, and awarding d e fe n d a n t recovery of his costs from plaintiff. Defendant submitted a bill of costs in th e amount of $2,549.27. P la in tiff objected to the bill of costs on the ground that plaintiff should be e xc u s e d from paying such costs on the basis of indigency. The court has
c o n s id e re d plaintiff's argument, yet holds, in its discretion, that plaintiff is responsible fo r payment of defendant's recoverable costs. P la in tiff next objects to the amount of the bill of costs. Plaintiff argues that d e fe n d a n t has impermissibly included costs of demonstrative evidence. See Civil L o c a l Rule 54.2(e) ("Costs of demonstrative evidence created for use in the case . . . m u s t never be taxed unless the party requesting taxation obtained Court approval o n motion for such costs brought prior to the time the costs were incurred . . . prior
to the time such evidence is used at trial."). The costs, $1,288.32, are that of e n la rg in g photographs and medical records for use as exhibits at trial. Defendant c o u n te rs that these are not demonstrative-evidence costs, but rather copies-ofp a p e rs costs, which is recoverable under Civ. L.R. 54.2(d). D e m o n s tra tive evidence is defined by Black's Dictionary (8th ed.) as: "Physical e vid e n c e that one can see and inspect (i.e., an explanatory aid, such as a chart, m a p , and some computer simulations) and that, while of probative value and usually o f f e r e d to clarify testimony, does not play a direct part in the incident in question." E n la rg e d photos and medical bills are demonstrative evidence, and thus recovery for their attendant costs is barred (unless the preparing party obtained prior court a p p ro va l) by Civ. L.R. 54.2(e). However, this is not to say that defendant's argument is meritless. Costs incurred from enlarging and mounting photos and documents are taxa b le under 28 U.S.C. § 1920(4) the statute underlying Civ. L.R. 54.2(d). H o w e ve r, Civ. L.R. 54.2(e) imposes an additional restriction not present in 28 U.S.C. § 1920. It is that additional restriction that prevents defendant from recovering the $ 1 ,2 8 8 .3 2 of enlargement costs. P la in tiff also claims that defendant has impermissibly included the cost of c o n ve rtin g depositions into ASCII format ($50.00), and the cost of shipping the d e p o s itio n transcripts ($19.00), and that defendant has overcharged on transcription ra tes ($47.33 overcharge) and for copies of transcripts ($51.80 overcharge). D e fe n d a n t concedes that plaintiff is right as to these four issues. Thus, the court will
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re d u c e the amount recoverable by these four amounts, as well as by the amount for th e photo and document enlargements. In accordance with the above findings, the court concurs with plaintiff that the ta xa b le costs are $1,092.82.1 A c c o r d in g ly , I T IS ORDERED that defendant shall be entitled to recover his costs, in the a m o u n t of $1,092.82, from plaintiff. D a te d at Milwaukee, W is c o n s in , this 21st day of December, 2009. BY THE COURT:
J .P . Stadtmueller U .S . District Judge
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Original Am o u n t Sought by Defendant: $2,549.27 M in u s Cost of Creating Dem o n s tr a tiv e s : 1,288.32 M in u s Cost of ASCII Conversion: 50.00 M in u s Shipping Costs: 19.00 M in u s Excessive Transcript Fees: 47.33 M in u s Excessive Transcript Copy Fees: 51.80 N e w Total: $ 1 ,0 9 2 .8 2
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