In an action against a detective and emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) alleging negligence during an emergency response, the Second Department determined a portion of the detective’s “internal affairs” file was discoverable as “material and necessary” and the deposition of two additional EMT’s should have been allowed because sufficient information about the response to the accident had not been provided by the EMT’s who had been deposed:
Contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination, we find that two of the Internal Affairs records must be disclosed because they are relevant and material: (1) a recording or recordings of emergency dispatch calls referred to as “Seventh Precinct Band (Disc #1)” and (2) a “Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services (FRES)” recording. Accordingly, the court should have granted that branch of the plaintiffs’ motion which was to compel the disclosure of those two records (see Civil Rights Law § 50-a…). * * *
Supreme Court should have granted that branch of the plaintiffs’ motion which was to compel the depositions of the EMTs or EMT aides who were present at the accident scene. In the first instance, a municipality has the right to determine which of its officers or employees with knowledge of the facts may appear for a deposition … . Similarly, “[a] corporate entity has the right to designate, in the first instance, the employee who shall be examined” … . In order to demonstrate that additional depositions are necessary, the movant must show “(1) that the representatives already deposed had insufficient knowledge, or were otherwise inadequate, and (2) there is a substantial likelihood that the persons sought for depositions possess information which is material and necessary to the prosecution of the case” … .
Here, only two EMTs who responded to the accident scene have been deposed thus far, and one of those EMTs is the … officer who allegedly failed to provide necessary first aid to the decedent. The testimony of these two emergency responders did not provide sufficient information regarding the actions taken by the various EMTs and ambulance workers who responded to the accident, and it is likely that other on-scene EMTs may possess relevant and material information. Under these circumstances, the plaintiffs are entitled to depose the other members of the ambulance company who were present at the accident scene … . Cea v Zimmerman, 2016 NY Slip Op 05968, 2nd Dept 9-14-16
MUNICIPAL LAW (PORTION OF DETECTIVE’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS FILE DISCOVERABLE; DEPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED)/CIVIL RIGHTS LAW (POLICE OFFICERS, PORTION OF DETECTIVE’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS FILE DISCOVERABLE)/POLICE OFFICERS (POLICE OFFICERS, PORTION OF DETECTIVE’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS FILE DISCOVERABLE)/CIVIL PROCEDURE (NEGLIGENCE, DEPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED)/NEGLIGENCE (NEGLIGENCE, PORTION OF DETECTIVE’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS FILE DISCOVERABLE; DEPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED)