United States v. Tenaglia ( 1993 )


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  • USCA1 Opinion









    February 18, 1993
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT


    _________________________

    No. 92-1827

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

    Plaintiff, Appellee,

    v.

    ONE 1987 BMW 325, ETC., ET AL.,

    Defendants.

    ________________

    JOHN TENAGLIA,

    Claimant, Appellant.

    _________________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

    [Hon. Norman H. Stahl, U.S. District Judge]
    ___________________

    _________________________

    Before

    Selya, Circuit Judge,
    _____________

    Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
    ____________________

    and Cyr, Circuit Judge.
    _____________

    Thomas Kerner for appellant.
    _____________
    Michael J. Gunnison, Assistant United States Attorney, with
    ___________________
    whom Jeffrey R. Howard, United States Attorney, was on brief, for
    _________________
    appellee.

    _________________________

    February 18, 1993

    _________________________
















    SELYA, Circuit Judge. This appeal arrives at our
    SELYA, Circuit Judge.
    ______________

    doorstep after meandering along the byways that link the

    Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims to

    the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We conclude that, given

    the way in which the Admiralty Rules and the Civil Rules

    intersect, the district court's order striking appellant's claim

    for failure to answer interrogatories was premature.

    Consequently, we reverse the order, vacate the judgment, and

    remand for further proceedings.

    I.
    I.
    __

    Historical Prolegomenon
    Historical Prolegomenon
    _______________________

    On March 27, 1991, police officer Sean Billert arrived

    at the scene of a two-car accident in North Conway, New

    Hampshire. One of the vehicles involved was a 1987 BMW operated

    by claimant-appellant John Tenaglia. In the course of a routine

    interview, Officer Billert caught the scent of burnt marijuana on

    Tenaglia's clothing. A search of the BMW revealed traces of

    marijuana and assorted drug paraphernalia. Authorities removed

    the car to a police compound and, during a further search,

    discovered $14,667 in used bills plus the key to a safe-deposit

    box. When opened, the box yielded an additional $16,000 in cash.

    The State undertook to prosecute Tenaglia on a

    narcotics charge. Meanwhile, the federal government notified him

    that it planned to commandeer the cash and car. Toward that end,

    the government filed a forfeiture complaint in federal district

    court on July 3, 1991. See 21 U.S.C. 881(a)(4), (a)(6) (1988).
    ___


    2














    The complaint, festooned with ninety-nine interrogatories,1

    alleged that the cash represented the avails of narcotics

    trafficking; that the vehicle had been purchased with drug

    proceeds; and, moreover, that it had been used in furtherance of

    a drug-related crime.

    Tenaglia received the forfeiture suit papers on August

    9, 1991. He promptly filed a claim and an answer to the

    complaint but boycotted the interrogatories. On September 18,

    the government moved to strike the claim because the

    interrogatories remained unanswered. Tenaglia responded by

    requesting a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of the state

    criminal prosecution, or in the alternative, an order sealing the

    record in the forfeiture action so that any admissions could not

    be used against him. Tenaglia subsequently answered two of the

    interrogatories, contending that those answers, without more,

    sufficed to clarify his standing.

    On May 12, 1992, the district court granted the

    government's longstanding motion to strike. The court ruled that

    Tenaglia, by failing to answer the interrogatories, had not

    perfected the right to prosecute his claim. The BMW and the cash

    ____________________

    1The interrogatories were served with the complaint pursuant
    to Adm. Rule C(6), which provides in pertinent part:

    The claimant of property that is the subject
    of an action in rem shall file a claim within
    10 days after process has been executed . . .
    . At the time of answering the claimant
    shall also serve answers to any
    interrogatories served with the complaint.
    In actions in rem interrogatories may be so
    served without leave of court.

    3














    were declared forfeit. This appeal ensued.

    On appeal, Tenaglia argues that the lower court, for

    all intents and purposes, dismissed his claim in contravention of

    Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 (which, as Tenaglia reads it, does not permit

    dismissal as an initial sanction for failure to answer

    interrogatories).2 The government counterattacks on three

    fronts. First, it asserts that, because Tenaglia did not

    adequately direct the district court's attention to Civil Rule 37

    during the course of the proceedings below, he is precluded from

    relying on the rule at this juncture. Second, the government

    asserts that Civil Rule 37 is inapposite in respect to

    interrogatories propounded pursuant to Adm. R. C(6). Third, the

    government asserts that, even considering Civil Rule 37, the

    district court's order is supportable. We limn the appropriate

    standard of review and thereafter address Tenaglia's appeal by

    tracking the government's assertions.

    II.
    II.
    ___


    ____________________

    2The district court, technically speaking, struck Tenaglia's
    claim, as opposed to dismissing it. We think, however, that this
    is a distinction bereft of any meaningful difference. Although
    in many cases the upshot of dismissal is more grievous than the
    upshot of an order to strike, dismissal and the striking of a
    claim are quintessentially synonymous in the forfeiture context.
    This is so because either order results in the failure of the
    entire claim. See United States v. Contents of Accounts Nos.
    ___ ______________ ___________________________
    3034504504 and 144-07143, Etc., 971 F.2d 974, 978 & n.3 (3d Cir.
    ______________________________
    1992), petition for cert. filed (Jan. 6, 1993). Thus, we treat
    ________________________
    the district court's order to strike Tenaglia's entire claim as
    the functional equivalent of a dismissal order. We note,
    moreover, that under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, neither dismissal nor
    striking of a pleading is a permissible sanction for a delay in
    making discovery unless the offending party first violates a
    preexisting court order.

    4














    Standard of Review
    Standard of Review
    __________________

    It is within the trial court's fief to choose

    appropriate sanctions when a party does not comply with

    procedural rules. See Media Duplication Servs., Ltd. v. HDG
    ___ ________________________________ ___

    Software, Inc., 928 F.2d 1228, 1238 (1st Cir. 1991)
    ________________

    ("Considerable discretion is vested in a district judge to decide

    whether to impose sanctions and what form they should take.");

    Jensen v. Frank, 912 F.2d 517, 524 (1st Cir. 1990) (similar);
    ______ _____

    Damiani v. Rhode Island Hosp., 704 F.2d 12, 15 (1st Cir. 1983)
    _______ ___________________

    (similar). An appellate court must step softly in such

    precincts, taking pains not simply to substitute its judgment for

    that of the district court and intervening only if it is

    persuaded that the district court overspilled fairly wide

    discretionary bounds. See National Hockey League v. Metropolitan
    ___ ______________________ ____________

    Hockey Club, Inc., 427 U.S. 639, 642 (1976); Velazquez-Rivera v.
    __________________ ________________

    Sea-Land Serv., Inc., 920 F.2d 1072, 1075 (1st Cir. 1990);
    ______________________

    Fashion House, Inc. v. K Mart Corp., 892 F.2d 1076, 1081-82 (1st
    ___________________ ____________

    Cir. 1989). All in all, a party protesting an order in respect

    to sanctions bears a formidable burden in attempting to convince

    the court of appeals that the lower court erred.

    Deference, however, is not to be confused with

    automatic acquiescence. We will not rubber stamp sanction

    decisions entered in the district court. Media Duplication, 928
    _________________

    F.2d at 1238. Rather, in examining the imposition of sanctions

    for possible abuses of discretion, we focus our review

    particularly on whether a "material factor deserving significant


    5














    weight [was] ignored," whether "an improper factor [was] relied

    upon," or whether "when all proper and no improper factors [were]

    assessed . . . the court [made] a serious mistake in weighing

    them." Independent Oil & Chem. Workers, Inc. v. Proctor & Gamble
    _____________________________________ ________________

    Mfg. Co., 864 F.2d 927, 929 (1st Cir. 1988) (collecting cases).
    ________

    III.
    III.
    ____

    Analysis
    Analysis
    ________

    A.
    A.
    __

    Procedural Default
    Procedural Default
    __________________

    As a threshold matter, the government asserts that

    Tenaglia waived any reliance on Civil Rule 37 by failing to bring

    the rule to the attention of the district court. After carefully

    examining the record, we conclude that, on balance, Tenaglia

    presented the issue in a manner barely sufficient to put the

    theory in issue and thereby to avoid a procedural default.

    To be sure, the question of waiver is borderline.

    Tenaglia did not confront the district court with chapter and

    verse anent the Rule 37 argument. Nonetheless, he did challenge

    the court's use of its discretion to dismiss in the first

    instance without prior adjudication of his generic objections to

    the wave of interrogatories; and on several occasions, he asked

    the court to consider the objections, meanwhile enlarging the

    time for responding to the interrogatories, before dismissing the

    claim. Tenaglia buttressed this point by citing cases in which

    orders compelling discovery preceded dismissal. See, e.g.,
    ___ ____

    United States v. One 1971 Corvette Stingray, Etc., No. 89-5398,
    _____________ ________________________________


    6














    1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15079 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 14, 1989).

    In fine, while Tenaglia's proffer was by no means a

    paradigm of lucidity, neither did it require the district court

    to sift an ocean of prose for a seashell's worth of reasoning.

    In some cases, perhaps, these meager efforts would not serve.

    But, in assessing the adequacy of Tenaglia's proffer, we are

    keenly aware that "dismissal with prejudice is a harsh sanction

    which runs counter to our strong policy favoring the disposition

    of cases on the merits." Figueroa Ruiz v. Alegria, 896 F.2d 645,
    _____________ _______

    647 (1st Cir. 1990) (internal quotation marks and citation

    omitted); accord Marx v. Kelly, Hart & Hallman, P.C., 929 F.2d 8,
    ______ ____ ___________________________

    10 (1st Cir. 1991); Velazquez-Rivera, 920 F.2d at 1075. We are
    ________________

    mindful, too, that forfeiture is a harsh medium and that the

    disposition-on-the-merits policy is, therefore, particularly

    potent here. See United States v. 384-390 West Broadway, 964
    ___ ______________ ______________________

    F.2d 1244, 1248 (1st Cir. 1992) (recognizing that "forfeitures

    are strong medicine, disfavored in our jurisprudence"); United
    ______

    States v. $38,000 in U.S. Currency, 816 F.2d 1538, 1547 (11th
    ______ __________________________

    Cir. 1987) (collecting cases); cf. United States v. 1 Street A-1,
    ___ _____________ ____________

    885 F.2d 994, 1001 (1st Cir. 1989) (acknowledging, in a

    forfeiture context, that "to the greatest extent possible

    controversies are [to be] decided on the merits" and therefore

    excusing potential procedural default). And, finally, given the

    surge in attempted forfeitures, the importance of the issue for

    future cases is itself a factor cutting sharply in favor of

    resolving it here and now. Cf. United States v. La Guardia, 902
    ___ _____________ __________


    7














    F.2d 1010, 1013 (1st Cir. 1990) (excusing procedural default and

    considering purely legal issue not raised below where the issue

    was significant and likely to recur, such that addressing it

    would advance the administration of justice); United States v.
    _____________

    Krynicki, 689 F.2d 289, 292 (1st Cir. 1982) (similar).
    ________

    Considering the nature and circumstances of this case, we

    conclude that the argument regarding the necessity of an

    intervening court order before dismissal for failure to make

    discovery was sufficiently raised below.

    B.
    B.
    __

    The Interplay Between the Two Sets of Rules
    The Interplay Between the Two Sets of Rules
    ___________________________________________

    In 1966, Congress abolished the former Rules of

    Practice in Admiralty and Maritime Cases and replaced them with

    the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims.

    The scope of the new rules belied their title because they

    extended beyond maritime actions to actions in rem, see Adm. R.
    ___

    A(2), C, and, in particular, to forfeiture actions. See, e.g.,
    ___ ____

    21 U.S.C. 881(b). In minting the Admiralty Rules, however,

    Congress did not completely remove in rem proceedings from the

    purview of the Civil Rules.3 Rather, Congress decreed that:

    The general Rules of Civil Procedure for
    the United States District Courts are also
    applicable to [in rem] proceedings except to
    the extent that they are inconsistent with

    ____________________

    3The Court made it very clear that the former admiralty
    rules were not meant to be comprehensive codes regulating every
    aspect and detail of federal court practice in cases to which
    they applied. See Miner v. Atlass, 363 U.S. 641, 648 (1960). We
    ___ _____ ______
    are confident that the new admiralty rules share this
    characteristic.

    8














    these Supplemental Rules.

    Adm. R. A.

    Pursuant to this direction, we have consistently looked

    to the Civil Rules to fill gaps in the Admiralty Rules. See,
    ___

    e.g., 384-390 West Broadway, 964 F.2d at 1247 n.4 (explaining
    ____ _____________________

    that "[r]esort . . . may be had to the Federal Rules of Civil

    Procedure for interstitial matters or where the Admiralty Rules

    are silent . . ."); United States v. 116 Emerson St., 942 F.2d
    _____________ _______________

    74, 77 (1st Cir. 1991) (similar); In re Northern Transatlantic
    _____________________________

    Carriers Corp., 423 F.2d 139, 140 (1st Cir. 1970) (holding that
    ______________

    "[a]ll civil rules, except where impertinent," apply in admiralty

    cases); see also 1 Street A-1, 885 F.2d at 998 & n.13 (applying
    ___ ____ ____________

    Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 in forfeiture suit); United States v. $149,345
    _____________ ________

    U.S. Currency, 747 F.2d 1278, 1280, 1281 (9th Cir. 1984)
    ______________

    (applying Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 and 60 in forfeiture suit); cf.
    ___

    $38,000 in U.S. Currency, 816 F.2d at 1547 n.20 (noting general
    ________________________

    applicability of Civil Rules to forfeiture actions but rejecting

    specific application of Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f) as inconsistent

    with Adm. R. E(2)); United States v. $39,000 in Canadian
    ______________ _____________________

    Currency, 801 F.2d 1210, 1216 (10th Cir. 1986) (similar).
    ________

    Admiralty Rule C provides an abecedarian roadmap for

    the travel of forfeiture proceedings. An action is initiated by

    the filing of a sworn complaint. Adm. R. C(2). Persons claiming

    an interest in the targeted property have ten days within which

    to file a claim and twenty days thereafter within which to file a

    sworn answer, together with "answers to any interrogatories


    9














    served with the complaint." Adm. R. C(6). However, the

    Admiralty Rules are completely bereft of guidance concerning what

    measures may be appropriate when parties fail to serve answers to

    interrogatories in a full and timely fashion. This deficiency is

    part of a larger pattern; read in their entirety, the Admiralty

    Rules make no provision whatever for discovery sanctions.

    In light of the Admiralty Rules' opacity on this

    subject, Adm. R. A directs our attention to the Civil Rules and,

    in particular, to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.4 The government seemingly

    concedes that Civil Rule 37 requires that a court order

    specifically compelling answers to interrogatories be entered,

    and then transgressed, before dismissal can ensue. The rule

    does, indeed, operate in that manner.5 See R.W. Int'l Corp. v.
    ___ ________________

    ____________________

    4Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 is entitled "Failure to Make or
    Cooperate in Discovery: Sanctions." It is the rule to which
    federal courts must resort in addressing a litigant's
    noncompliance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 (entitled "Interrogatories
    to Parties").

    5Of particular pertinence here is the rule's admonition
    that:

    If a party . . . fails to obey an order to
    provide or permit discovery, including an
    order made under subdivision (a) of this rule
    . . . the court in which the action is
    pending may make such orders in regard to the
    failure as are just, and among others the
    following:

    . . . .

    (C) An order striking out pleadings or
    parts thereof, or staying further proceedings
    until the order is obeyed, or dismissing the
    action or proceeding or any part thereof, or
    rendering a judgment by default against the
    disobedient party . . . .

    10














    Welch Foods, Inc., 937 F.2d 11, 15 (1st Cir. 1991) (collecting
    __________________

    cases).

    The next question is whether, as the government

    asserts, the quoted portion of Civil Rule 37 is antagonistic to

    some provision of the Admiralty Rules. The government

    hypothesizes such a clash between Civil Rule 37 and Adm. R. C(6)

    by reading the latter rule as allowing dismissal in the first

    instance if interrogatories are served thereunder and then

    ignored. But, the government offers no case law supportive of

    this curious interpretation. It relies entirely on forfeiture

    cases in which courts have from time to time struck untimely
    ________

    claims to targeted property. See, e.g., United States v. One
    ______ ___ ____ ______________ ___

    Dairy Farm, 918 F.2d 310, 311 (1st Cir. 1990). Such cases are
    __________

    inapposite. For one thing, the Civil Rules, like the Admiralty

    Rules, have uniformly been interpreted as empowering courts to

    strike late-filed pleadings. See, e.g., Fantasy, Inc. v.
    ___ ____ ______________

    Fogerty, 664 F. Supp. 1345, 1347-48 (N.D. Cal. 1987). The same
    _______

    does not hold true for delayed discovery. The Admiralty Rules,

    as we have said, are silent on this topic, and the Civil Rules

    contain specific provisions for a progression of remedies if a

    court encounters footdragging in the answering of

    interrogatories. For another thing, the reason for strictly

    enforcing timeliness requirements anent the filing of claims is

    "to force claimants to come forward as soon as possible after

    forfeiture proceedings have begun." 116 Emerson St., 942 F.2d at
    _______________

    ____________________

    Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2).

    11














    77 (quoting 1 Street A-1, 885 F.2d at 1001). Once all the
    _____________

    parties are before the court, different considerations obtain.

    At that juncture, the measured procedure crafted by Fed. R. Civ.

    P. 37, which balances the interest in full and prompt discovery

    against the presumption that disputes should be resolved on the

    merits, seems a far more suitable instrument.

    To sum up, the Admiralty Rules provide for discovery

    via interrogatories but they provide no internalized mechanism

    for handling a party's failure to answer interrogatories fully

    and/or punctually. Given the imperative of Adm. R. A and the

    great similarity in language between Adm. R. C(6) and Fed. R.

    Civ. P. 33,6 it seems natural to look to Civil Rule 37 to fill

    the hole in the Admiralty Rules' interrogatory provisions. Civil

    Rule 37 provides what the Admiralty Rules do not: a mechanism

    for addressing failures to cooperate in discovery. Discerning no

    hint of inconsistency, we hold that the use of discovery

    sanctions in forfeiture actions is properly governed by the

    pertinent provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

    Accordingly, the imposition of sanctions for a claimant's failure

    or refusal to answer interrogatories in a forfeiture case must be

    judged under the jurisprudence of Civil Rule 37.

    C.
    C.
    __

    The Propriety of the District Court's Order
    The Propriety of the District Court's Order
    ___________________________________________

    We turn last to the question of whether the district

    ____________________

    6Except for the fact that Adm. R. C(6) allows the government
    first crack at propounding interrogatories, it tracks the
    prescriptive language of Fed. R. Civ. P. 33.

    12














    court's order in this case was within the bounds of its

    discretion. In this regard, the government hangs the case for

    affirmance on two hooks. First, the government tells us that the

    order met the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. Next, the

    government argues in the alternative that the district court had

    inherent power to order a dismissal here. We address these

    points in order.

    1. The Rule 37 Framework. Civil Rule 37 erects a two-
    1. The Rule 37 Framework.
    _____________________

    tiered framework for addressing a litigant's failure to cooperate

    in discovery. First, the party propounding interrogatories must

    seek a court order compelling discovery. It is only if the

    offending party refuses to comply with such an order that the

    court may choose a sanction as stern as dismissing the action or

    striking the offender's pleadings. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2),
    ___

    (d). Thus, Civil Rule 37 does not permit the district court to

    jump directly to the most dire sanctions without essaying an

    intermediate first step. To the contrary, Rule 37's "language

    clearly requires two things as conditions precedent to engaging

    the gears of the rule's sanction machinery: a court order must

    be in effect, and then must be violated, before the enumerated

    sanctions can be imposed." R.W. Int'l, 937 F.2d at 15
    ___________

    (collecting cases).7 This case aptly illustrates the value of

    the two-stage process: a motion to compel would have given the

    ____________________

    7We think this holding is altogether consistent with the
    Ninth Circuit's position in $149,345 U.S. Currency, 747 F.2d at
    ______________________
    1280 although there, a fresh order to compel was unnecessary
    because of the res judicata effect of an order to compel entered
    in an earlier case. See id.
    ___ ___

    13














    court an opportunity to address Tenaglia's Fifth Amendment and

    relevancy concerns, to enter an order fixing a firm date for

    compliance, and, if necessary, to punish Tenaglia's dilatory

    conduct by awarding counsel fees and costs. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
    ___

    37(a)(4). If Tenaglia then persisted in giving a cold shoulder

    to the compliance date, the court would be in a position to

    exercise its discretion in choosing an appropriate sanction from

    those provided in Rule 37(b), including dismissal.

    Here, neither of the precedent conditions was met.

    Instead, the government tried a shortcut, moving to strike

    Tenaglia's claim for failure to comply with Adm. R. C(6) without

    first seeking to compel responses to the interrogatories and

    without making the slightest effort to observe Fed. R. Civ. P.

    37's procedural strictures. Seven months after the government

    filed its motion, the district court adopted the government's

    reasoning in large part, concluding that Tenaglia "lack[ed] the

    standing to contest the forfeiture at issue" because he had

    failed to answer the interrogatories. Based on that conclusion,

    the court struck the claim without first entering a discovery

    order and subsequently witnessing its breach, as Rule 37

    requires. In failing to account for this factor, the district

    court overstepped its discretion when it struck Tenaglia's claim

    in the first instance.8 See Aggarwal v. Ponce Sch. of Medicine,
    ___ ________ _______________________


    ____________________

    8In point of fact, because the government never moved to
    compel Tenaglia's compliance, the court had no discretion under
    __
    Rule 37 to strike Tenaglia's claim for failure to make due
    discovery.

    14














    745 F.2d 723, 727 (1st Cir. 1984) ("The cask which encases a

    judge's discretion, though commodious, can be shattered when . .

    . the trial court misconceived or misapplied the law . . . .").

    2. Inherent Powers. In an effort to dodge the
    2. Inherent Powers.
    ________________

    operation of Civil Rule 37, the government argues that, in any

    event, no reference to the Civil Rules is exigible because the

    courts can use inherent powers to deal appropriately with

    procedural problems on a case-by-case basis. Although it is true

    that a district court possesses the inherent power to dismiss an

    action where there has been an egregious abuse of process, see,
    ___

    e.g., Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118-19 (1st Cir.
    ____ _____ _______________

    1989) (holding that the district court possessed inherent power

    to dismiss the complaint after discovery of plaintiff's ongoing

    fraud on the court); cf. Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 111 S. Ct.
    ___ ________ ____________

    2123, 2133 (1991) ("outright dismissal of a lawsuit . . . is a

    particularly severe sanction, yet is within the court's

    discretion") (citation omitted), we see no evidence here of such

    straitened circumstances.

    Furthermore, there are limits to a court's inherent

    powers, particularly in instances where the Civil Rules are on

    all fours. When, as in this case, the Civil Rules limit the

    nature of the sanction that can be imposed, a court may not use

    its inherent powers to circumvent the Rules' specific provisions.

    See Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 487 U.S. 250, 254
    ___ ____________________ ______________

    (1988) (holding that a court cannot rely on supervisory power to

    avoid the clear mandate of a procedural rule); cf. Chambers, 111
    ___ ________


    15














    S. Ct. at 2136 (allowing use of inherent powers where Civil Rules

    did not limit the nature of the sanction which could be imposed).

    Consequently, even where district courts have invoked their

    inherent powers to dismiss an action, the dismissal has typically

    followed the violation of a preexisting court order. See, e.g.,
    ___ ____

    Figueroa Ruiz, 896 F.2d at 648.
    _____________

    We note, moreover, that the court below expressly

    relied on Adm. R. C(6) and did not purport to invoke or even

    mention its inherent powers. Under these circumstances, we are

    disinclined to rummage through the record searching for a likely

    unusable needle in a haystack never explored by the trial court.

    Doing so would be injudicious and, to our way of thinking, would

    needlessly threaten the delicate balance struck by Civil Rule 37.

    See Bank of Nova Scotia, 487 U.S. at 255 ("The balance struck by
    ___ ____________________

    the Rule . . . may not casually be overlooked 'because a court

    has elected to analyze the question under the supervisory

    power.'") (quoting United States v. Payner, 447 U.S. 727, 736
    _____________ ______

    (1980)); see also R.W. Int'l, 937 F.2d at 20 (refusing "to debate
    ________ __________

    the entirely hypothetical question of whether the action might

    lawfully have been dismissed in the exercise of the court's

    inherent powers").

    IV.
    IV.
    ___

    Conclusion
    Conclusion
    __________

    We need go no further.9 Because the Admiralty Rules

    ____________________

    9Tenaglia requests that we direct the district court to
    issue a protective order enabling him simultaneously to answer
    the interrogatories and protect his Fifth Amendment rights. We

    16














    contain no inconsistent provisions, Civil Rule 37 provides the

    appropriate mechanism to which parties who find their discovery

    stalled in forfeiture cases must resort. And, because the

    district court failed to abide by the analytic strictures of Fed.

    R. Civ. P. 37 when exercising its discretion here, its order and

    judgment cannot stand.



    The order striking appellant's claim is reversed, the
    The order striking appellant's claim is reversed, the
    _______________________________________________________

    judgment below is vacated, the claim is reinstated, and the case
    judgment below is vacated, the claim is reinstated, and the case
    _________________________________________________________________

    is remanded to the district court for further proceedings. No
    is remanded to the district court for further proceedings. No
    _________________________________________________________________

    costs.
    costs.
    ______






























    ____________________

    believe that this is a matter to be considered ab initio in the
    __ ______
    trial court and Tenaglia is, of course, free to raise it on
    remand.

    17




Document Info

Docket Number: 92-1827

Filed Date: 2/18/1993

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 9/21/2015

Authorities (26)

The Independent Oil and Chemical Workers of Quincy, Inc. v. ... , 864 F.2d 927 ( 1988 )

United States v. One Dairy Farm, Etc., Appeal of Arnaldo ... , 918 F.2d 310 ( 1990 )

R.W. International Corp. And T. H. Ward De La Cruz, Inc. v. ... , 937 F.2d 11 ( 1991 )

Louis M. Damiani, M.D. v. Rhode Island Hospital , 704 F.2d 12 ( 1983 )

united-states-v-one-parcel-of-real-property-with-buildings-appurtenances , 942 F.2d 74 ( 1991 )

Deep Aggarwal v. Ponce School of Medicine , 745 F.2d 723 ( 1984 )

James M. Marx v. Kelly, Hart & Hallman, P.C., D/B/A Kelly, ... , 929 F.2d 8 ( 1991 )

In the Matter of the Complaint of Northern Transatlantic ... , 423 F.2d 139 ( 1970 )

united-states-v-one-urban-lot-located-at-1-street-a-1-valparaiso , 885 F.2d 994 ( 1989 )

United States v. Judith Ann Krynicki , 689 F.2d 289 ( 1982 )

Fashion House, Inc. v. K Mart Corporation, Fashion House, ... , 892 F.2d 1076 ( 1989 )

Donald A. JENSEN, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Anthony M. FRANK,... , 912 F.2d 517 ( 1990 )

Luis Felipe Velazquez-Rivera v. Sea-Land Service, Inc. , 920 F.2d 1072 ( 1990 )

united-states-v-one-parcel-of-real-property-with-the-building , 964 F.2d 1244 ( 1992 )

Nos. 91-5470, 91-5768 , 971 F.2d 974 ( 1992 )

Salim Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corporation , 892 F.2d 1115 ( 1989 )

Rafael Figueroa Ruiz v. Jose E. Alegria , 896 F.2d 645 ( 1990 )

Media Duplication Services, Ltd. v. Hdg Software, Inc., ... , 928 F.2d 1228 ( 1991 )

united-states-v-149345-united-states-currency-andres-alonso-jr , 747 F.2d 1278 ( 1984 )

United States v. $38,000.00 in United States Currency, ... , 816 F.2d 1538 ( 1987 )

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