Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 19, September 20, 2024
A. Discovery on
Request. By written request served on the other party and filed with the Board
or the Office of Administrative Hearings, as appropriate, a party may require
another party to produce, within 15 days, the following:
(1) A list of witnesses to be
called;
(2) Copies of documents
intended to be produced at the hearing; or
(3) Both §A(1) and (2) of this
regulation.
B. Mandatory
Discovery.
(1) Each party shall provide to the
other party not later than 15 days before the prehearing conference, if
scheduled, or 45 days before the scheduled hearing date, whichever is earlier:
(a) The name and curriculum vitae of any
expert witness who will testify at the hearing; and
(b) A detailed written report summarizing the
expert's testimony, which includes the:
(i)
Opinion offered;
(ii) Factual basis
for the opinion; and
(iii) Reasons
underlying the opinion.
(2) If the Board or the Office of
Administrative Hearings, as appropriate, finds that the report is not
sufficiently specific, or otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of
§B(1) of this regulation, the Board or the Office of Administrative
Hearings, as appropriate, shall exclude from the hearing the testimony of the
expert and any report of the expert.
(3) The Board or the Office of Administrative
Hearings, as appropriate, shall consider and decide arguments regarding the
sufficiency of the report:
(a) At the
prehearing conference, if scheduled; or
(b) Immediately before the scheduled
hearing.
(4) If an
expert adopts a sufficiently specific charging document as the expert's report,
that adoption satisfies the requirements set forth in §B(1) of this
regulation.
C. Parties
are not entitled to discovery of items other than as listed in §§A
and B of this regulation.
D. Both
parties have a continuing duty to supplement their disclosure of witnesses and
documents.
E. Absent unforeseen
circumstances that would otherwise impose an extraordinary hardship on a party,
witnesses or documents may not be added to the list:
(1) After the prehearing conference, if
scheduled; or
(2) Later than 15
days before the hearing, if no prehearing conference is scheduled.
F. The prohibition against adding
witnesses does not apply to witnesses or documents to be used for impeachment
or rebuttal purposes.
G.
Construction.
(1) In hearings conducted by an
administrative law judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings, this
regulation shall, whenever possible, be construed as supplementing and in
harmony with COMAR 28.02.01.
(2) In
the event of a conflict between this regulation and COMAR 28.02.01, this
regulation applies.
