Opinion
Case No. 08-60315-CIV-ROSENBAUM.
February 10, 2010
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon Defendant W. Anthony Huff and Relief Defendants Sheri Huff, Roxann Pixler, and Midwest Merger Management, LLC's Motion in Limine on Issue of Expert Testimony [D.E. 224] and Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission's Motion for a Daubert Hearing to Exclude the Opinions of Expert Witness Wayne Stratton [D.E. 230]. As the parties are aware, the Court has set aside time on Friday, February 12, 2010, for a hearing on these Motions.
Upon review of the Motions in preparation for the hearing, however, the Court notes that each Motion appears to address proposed expert witness opinions that may include those provided prior to the August 21, 2009, deadline, and those more recently provided. With regard to any expert witness opinions provided prior to August 21, 2009, the Court will not entertain any motion in limine challenges. Pursuant to the Order for Pre-trial Conference entered in this case by Judge Zloch [D.E. 58], the deadline for submitting motions in limine fell five days prior to the then-scheduled pre-trial conference. Subsequently, Judge Zloch reset the pre-trial conference for September 11, 2009, and extended the deadline for submitting motions in limine to five days prior to that conference. See D.E. 90. The SEC timely filed all of its motions in limine, other than the one at issue here, as of September 3, 2009. See D.E. 144 — D.E. 148. After the parties consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction, this Court held a status conference at which the Court agreed to allow Defendant and Relief Defendants to file any motions in limine by September 19, 2009. See D.E. 166, D.E. 167, D.E. 210 at 13-16. During the status conference, the Court made it clear that all motions in limine had to be filed by that time. See D.E. 210 at 13-16. Defendant and Relief Defendants did, in fact, file such a motion in limine. See D.E. 172.
Between September 19, 2009, and February 5, 2010, when Defendant and Relief Defendants filed their pending Motion in Limine, Defendant and Relief Defendants filed no other motions in limine. Nor did Defendant and Relief Defendants present any reason why they could not have filed a motion in limine challenging aspects of the SEC's proposed expert witness R. David Wallace prior to February 5, 2010. While review of Defendant and Relief Defendants' pending Motion reveals that they challenge certain information that they became aware of in late January, Defendant and Relief Defendants' Motion in Limine does not explain why the Court should consider any challenges to the original expert report and supplemental expert report provided by the SEC nearly a month prior to the deadline that the Court extended for Defendant and Relief Defendants' submission of their motions in limine. Under these circumstances, the Court will not entertain any motion in limine challenges to any information disclosed or opinions specified in the original and supplemental expert reports timely provided by the SEC well in advance of the deadline for filing motions in limine. Similarly, to the extent that the SEC seeks to challenge any aspect of any information disclosed or opinions presented by Wayne Stratton in his timely filed expert report, the Court will not consider such motion in limine objections. The hearing on any post-September 19, 2009, proposed expert opinions and information, however, will occur as scheduled.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.