Judge Unseals Sanctions Order on Auto Expert's Evidence Tampering

A sanctions order entered against Honda Motor Co. because its expert witness tampered with evidence has been unsealed by a California state court judge after an auto-safety group and two attorneys claimed the order was being used to shield the expert from questions in other cases.

The motion to unseal was filed by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, representing the Center for Auto Safety, and attorneys Patrick Ardis of Memphis, Tenn., and Lee Griffin of Jacksonville, Fla.

Ardis and Griffin have defect suits pending against Ford Motor Co. The company has named Robert Gratzinger as an expert witness in both cases.

The same judge who sealed the 36-page sanctions order Oct. 11, 2002, Placer County Superior Court Judge James D. Garbolino, ruled that it should now be unsealed. The judge said the order-sealing procedures of California Rule of Court 243.1 were not followed with regard to the 2002 order, and he rejected Honda's argument that the rule did not apply because the sanctions order was not a record.

The judge said the order was "neither interim nor was it tentative."

"The decision directed a verdict and made other substantive orders which unalterably affected the course of the trial," he said.

The underlying case involved Sarah Davis, 17 at the time she suffered paralyzing injuries in an accident. Her family charged that defects in her Honda Civic were to blame.

Judge Garbolino found that Gratzinger intentionally used a greased rag to obliterate crucial marks on a seat belt in the Civic that could have shown, contrary to Honda's assertions, that Davis was using the belt when the accident occurred.

The judge also found that an attorney for Honda knowingly prevented the rag from being preserved.

"The conduct by Honda defendants is of a most serious and egregious nature," Judge Garbolino said in his 2002 order. "In that regard the sanction must be certain, should not be susceptible of allowing Honda to escape its ability to punish and deter, or render it meaningless. And it must be proportional to the actual harm which was done, and the malignant intent with which the acts were committed."

The judge directed a verdict for the plaintiff and sent the case to the jury for a determination of damages.

The case settled a week later and, as part of the agreement, the sanctions decision was sealed.

The sealing order prohibited all publication of the decision, required copies to be destroyed, and barred anyone from testifying about or mentioning the sanctions decision in any legal proceeding anywhere in the United States.

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice attorney Rebecca E. Epstein said the decision to unseal made relevant information available to the public and would help plaintiffs in lawsuits against the car manufacturers for whom Gratzinger testified.

"The public has the right to know about the unethical conduct exposed in this decision," according to a statement by Epstein, who argued the case before Judge Garbolino.

"People left in wheelchairs by crashes will no longer have to sit in silence while Mr. Gratzinger testifies for Honda, Ford, Toyota and Mazda," Epstein said. "We applaud Judge Garbolino's decision to end this untenable and unjust situation."

Dina Micheletti of Fazio & Micheletti, cooperating counsel in the case, said in a statement that Judge Garbolino's "compassion for Sarah Davis and his outrage at the behavior of Honda's expert witness and Honda itself are very evident in the unsealed sanctions decision."

Honda attorneys could not be reached for comment.