A.Witnesses. Within 30 days of the filing of an answer, the Director and the respondent shall exchange the names and addresses of all persons known to have knowledge of the relevant facts. The Director or the respondent may withhold such information only with permission of the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel, who may authorize withholding of the information only for good cause shown, taking into consideration the materiality of the information possessed by the witness and the position the witness occupies in relation to the judge. The presiding officer's review of the withholding request is to be in camera, but the party seeking withholding must advise the other party of the request without disclosing the subject of the request. The Hearing Panel shall set a date for the exchange of the names and addresses of all witnesses the parties intend to call at the hearing. The Director and the respondent may take depositions only of witnesses to be called at the hearing and other witnesses who are unavailable to testify. Depositions of other persons may be taken only with permission of the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel and only for good cause shown.B.Other Evidence. The Director and the respondent shall exchange: (1) non-privileged evidence relevant to the formal charges, documents to be presented at the hearing, and non-privileged witness statements and summaries of interviews with witnesses who will be called at the hearing; and(2) other material only upon good cause shown to the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel.C.Exculpatory Evidence. The Director shall provide the respondent with exculpatory evidence relevant to the formal charges.D.Duty of Supplementation. Both parties have a continuing duty to supplement information required to be exchanged under this Rule.E.Completion of Discovery. All discovery shall be completed within 90 days of the filing of the answer, unless extended for good cause by the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel.F.Failure to Disclose. The Hearing Panel may preclude either party from calling a witness at the hearing if the party has not provided the opposing party with the witness's name and address or any statements taken from the witness.G.Resolution of Disputes. Disputes concerning discovery shall be determined by the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel, who may in his or her discretion refer the dispute to the full Hearing Panel for decision. The decisions of the Hearing Panel may not be appealed to the Supreme Court before the entry of the final order.H.Civil Rules Not Applicable. Proceedings under these Rules are not subject to the Civil Practice Act regarding discovery except those rules relating to depositions and subpoenas.R. Judi. Qual. Commi. Ga. 22
Adopted effective 1/1/2018; amended effective 2/3/2023.Commentary
[1] "Witnesses to be called at the hearing" include witnesses whose testimony will be presented by deposition.
[2] Liberal exchanges of non-privileged information should be encouraged, because they facilitate the trial of the charges. However, the presiding officer of the Hearing Panel should monitor closely the extent of discovery permitted and the time for obtaining such discovery in order to prevent counsel from using discovery as a means of delay.
[3] Under this Rule, the number of persons who may be deposed is limited to avoid building delay into the process and to protect persons who will not testify at trial. Subpoena power is covered in Rule 14.
[4] In determining whether to preclude a party from calling a witness at the hearing for failure to disclose required information, the Hearing Panel may take into consideration the prejudice to the party calling the witness if the witness is not called and the extent to which the opposing party will be prejudiced by the lack of advance disclosure.