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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST CROIX DARRELL JACKSON PLAINTIFF, SX 20 CV 00016 V. ACTION FOR PARTITION ACTION FOR FRAUD ACTION FOR REVOCATION AND ACTION FOR DAMAGES JAHNELLA HARVEY, Jury Trial Demanded DEFENDANT Cite as 202] VI Super 39U Appearances Lee J Rohn, Esq l 108 King Street Suite 3 56 King Street Third Floor Christiansted, St Croix U S Virgin Islands 00820 For Plamnfi' H A Curt Otto, Esq l 138 King Street Suite l07 Christiansted St Croix U S Virgin Islands 00820 For Defendant MEMORANDUM OPINION ‘l WILLOCKS Presiding Judge ‘{[1 THIS MATTER is before the Court on Darrell Jackson s (hereinafter Plaintiff ) Motion to supplement Iahnella Harvey’s (hereinafter ‘ Defendant ) discovery responses filed on March 5 2021 I Discussion i Meet and Confer Requirement V I R Civ P 37 l 12 [f a party served fails to make all necessary disclosures as required by V I R Civ P 33 the party requesting disclosure may move to compel discovery under V I R Civ P 37(a)( l) ' The Motion ' Cm x Vnrgin Islands Water & PowerAth 2020 V l LEXIS 45 (Super Ct 2020)  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 000l6 Memorandum Opinion Page 2 0f 11 must satisfy certain requirements ’ Specifically the motion must include a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing to make disclosure or discovery in an effort to obtain it without court action V I R Civ P 37(a)(l) ‘ The certification must demonstrate in writing that prior to filing, counsel for the parties attempted to meet and “confer in good faith effort to eliminate the necessity for the motion to eliminate as many of the disputes as possible’ V I R Civ P 37 I(a)‘ ‘II3 Plaintiff attached a Certification Pursuant to V I R Civ P 37 I Plaintiff wrote to Defendant with information about discovery responses that were overdue See Exhibit 2 In addition Plaintiff attached another Exhibit demonstrating the discovery responses were deficient See Exhibit 3 Lastly Plaintiff filed another attachment demonstrating a follow up request for supplemental discovery responses See Exhibit 4 The Court finds that Plaintiff has sufficiently met the meet and confer requirement ii Motion to Compel (ll 4 “For discovery to progress effectively, each party must provide truthful complete candid and explicit respOnses to each individual discovery request ’ ‘ Regarding interrogatories the responding party must answer each interrogatory separately and fully in writing ” unless the responding party demonstrates that he cannot do so with the exercise of reasonable efforts 6 See V I R Civ P 33 advisory committee’s note to subpart (b) 7 Only when the responding party has made this representation can he state that the answer to an interrogatory may be determined by examining other documents 3 See V I R Civ P 33 advisory committee 3 note to subpart (d) Otherwise answering an 2 [(1 ‘ Id * Id '3‘; (citing Donasmrg 20|9 V I LEXIS 66 at 10 2019 VI SUPER 66U ‘1 18 at 3) IE, ” Id  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion Page 3 0f 11 interrogatory by merely referring to pleadings or other discovery is insufficient 96 A L R 2D 598 (I964) (collecting cases) 9 (“5 Plaintiff moves this Court to compel Defendant to supplement responses to Interrogatories Nos 3 5 7 I6 23 24 and supplement Demand for Production Nos 2 3 6 7 8 9 IO and l l The Court will address each one below Interrogatory No 3 Interrogatory No 3 Please identify the names and addresses of all banks or other financial institutions where you have held any joint accounts with Plaintiff and for each account, identify the account number, the type of account held all account holders the dates that each account was Opened and closed, if applicable and the reasons for the same Response to Interrogatory No 3 Banco Popular 3009 Orange Grove Shopping Center Christiansted Virgin Islands 00822 Acct# I90 17 4757 Acct Type Checking Account Acct Holders Darrell Jackson and Jahnella Harvey Opened Banco Popular is the custodian of files Interrogatory No 7 Interrogatory No 7 Please provide an itemized listing of all contributions you made towards the purchase of the subject property and/or the construction of the house on the property including the date, description, and amount of any such contributions Response to Interrogatory No 7 On December I8 2008 I withdrew $3 000 00 and took $2 000 00 cash I had saved at home for a total of $5 000 00 toward the purchase of the subject property Please see receipts for payments towards the construction of the house for dates, descriptions and amounts paid bearing bates stamped Nos 11-] 000091 JH000364 produced with Initial Disclosures and the documents hates stamped Jl-I 000706 000713 submitted with defendant’s RespOnse to Plaintiff’s First Demand for Production of Documents served simultaneously herewith ‘16 Pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure “an interrogatory may relate to any matter that may be inquired into under Rule 26(b) [generally that it is relevant and discoverable] ’ V I R Civ P 9 Id  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion 33(a)(2) Each interrogatory must be answered fully and any grounds for objection must be stated or it may be waived V I R Civ P 33(b)(3) (4) Here in regard to No 3 the Court agrees with Plaintiff that there was a failure to answer when the bank acc0unts were closed Therefore the Court will GRANT supplementation as to that statement for No 3 However the Court will DENY supplementation for No 7 because the Court finds that it was a sufficient answer as to what was asked Interrogatory No 16 [nterrogatory No 16 Please provide a chronology of all repairs and/or improvements you made to the subject property including the dates of the repairs/improvements the identities of the persons who performed the repairs/improvements and the cost of each repair/improvement to the property Response to [nterrogatory No 16 Objection the Plaintiff’s request is broad and overburdensome Receipts have been provided with dates work description and who performed the same [did pay for tiling, painting closets doors and installation of vanities, materials down payment for cabinet, equipment rental and plastering and more Please see documents submitted with Initial Disclosures bates stamped 1H 00009! through IH 000364 and bates stamped documents JH 000706 through JH 0007l3 attached hereto Interrogatory No 23 Interrogatory No 23 Please identify any self employed business you have ever engaged in or planned to engage in, by date amount of time spent in such business or planning for such business, length of time the business was open any income received from the same and what costs were put into the same Response to Interrogatory No 23 I have always had plans to open my own daycare/preschool ‘17 Plaintiff is correct in stating that Rule 33(b)(2) establishes that the responding party must state its answers and any objections within 30 days after being served with the interrogatories " Defendant filed a Notice to the Court on February 10 202l that Responses were filed to Plaintiff s First Demand for Interrogatories and Plaintiff s First Demand for Production of documents '0 The Court agrees that "' The Record shows that Plaintiff filed Plaintiff s First Set of lnterrogatories and First Demand for Production 0t Documents to Defendant on December I l 2020 In the future when counsel represents that one party has filed out of time pursuant to Rule 33(b)(2) counsel should also reference the dates in their Motion  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion this was out of time thus, waiving any objection Moreover, Plaintiff also takes issue with Interrogatory No 16 because of the reference to other documents in their answer This Court has held when a response is blatantly insufficient it will be ordered to be supplemented See Kralzk v Osage STX Holdings LLC 2020 VI SUPER 69 (Super Ct 2020) (holding responses were blatantly insufficient» However that is not the case with regards to Interrogatory No 16 The answer sufficiently points to receipts with dates identities of who made them and the cost and this is what Plaintiff is asking for Thus the Court will DENY supplementation on No 16 ‘][8 Interrogatory No 23, however is clearly insufficient and the Court will ORDER supplementation as to Interrogatory No 23 lnterrogatory No 24 Interrogatory No 24 Please state the name of the obstetrician for your pregnancy in 2019 and name of any counselors that you have seen in the last two (2) years Response to Interrogatory No 24 Objection relevance ‘l[9 The Court, having already found that Defendant waived any objections, will require supplementation to Interrogatory No 24 and will ORDER supplementation as to Interrogatory No 24 Demand for Production No 2 Demand for Production No 2 Please produce your tax returns for the past ten (10) years Response to Demand for Production No 2 Please see tax returns for the calendar years 2010 2016 provided with Rule 26 Initial Disclosures (bales stamped JH 000647 through JH 000670) Tax returns for the years 2017 through 2019 will be produced upon receipt Demand for Production No 3 Demand for Production No 3 Please produce your payroll check stubs W 4 s and 1099 s for the past ten (10) years  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion Response to Demand for Production No 3 Objection overbroad and overburdensome not in Defendant s possession Without waiving the objection, See Response to Demand for Production No 2 above ‘][lO Rule 34(a)( 1) provides that a party may serve on any other party a request within the scope of Rule 26(b) “to produce and permit the requesting party or its representative to inspect copy, test or sample the following items in the responding party’s possession custody or control ’ Donastorg v Walker 2019 VI SUPER 96U (Super Ct 2019) Moreover Rule 34(b)(2)(B) provides that in responding to each request for production “the response must either state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested or state with specificity the grounds for objecting to the request The Court having already found that Defendant has waived any objections agrees with Plaintiff For the years of 2017 2019 there are tax returns missing on Demand for Production No 2 thus the Court will ORDER Demand for Production No 2 be supplemented fill I In regard to Demand for Production No 3 however the Plaintiff is asking for payroll check stubs W 4 s and 1099 s for the past ten (10) years Plaintiff addresses this Demand for Production because Plaintiff states that it is necessary to the discoverability of Defendant’s ability to pay on the house In any regard the Court is hesitant in ordering supplementation dating back ten (10) years ago when the Complaint alleges that it was in or about August 2014 Defendant represented to Plaintiff that she would maintain the property and the house and complete construction of the house (See Complaint1[7) ({[12 Ten years ago would be the beginning of 201 I and the Court does not find the discoverability in the year 201 1 relevant to the time period that Plaintiff alleges is necessary for this information In Sheeslev v Grzfiith the Court ruled that in the absence of a demonstrated need for the specific information sought a request can be overbroad and unduly burdensome Sheeslev v Griffith 2018 V I LEXIS 42 (Super Ct 2018) The Court finds that ten (10) years is a burden for the specific years that Plaintiff is trying to discovery Defendant s ability to pay on the house The Court will only ORDER  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey SX 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion Page 7 0f 11 the Defendant supplement the documents in good faith to the extent that the payroll check stubs W 4 s and 1099 s can be reasonably located from the year 2014 to the present Demand for Production No 6 Demand for Production No 6 Please produce any documents evidencing the source of any funds paid toward the house in the last ten (10) years Response to Demand for Production No 6 Tax refund and salary See Response to Demand for Production No 2 above Financial Aid Disbursement See Response to Demand for Production No 5 above Credit card line of credit——Custodia1 of files are Scotia Bank Home Depot, and American Express SBA Disaster Loan See Response to Demand for Production No 5 above Savings See hates stamped documents JH 000706 through JH 000711 attached hereto Demand for Production No 7 Demand for Production No 7 Please produce copies of all documents and communications evidencing or concerning all consideration received by Plaintiff for your interest in the subject pr0perty Response to Demand for Production No 7 1 Durable Power of Attorney and Designation of Guardian hates stamped documents JH 000005 through 1H 000009 provided with Rule 26 Disclosures 2 Last Will and Testament of Darrel David Jackson a/k/a Kefee bates stamped 11-1 000015 through JH 000020 provided with Rule 26 Disclosures 3 Quitclaim Deed Darrel Jackson to Darrel Jackson and Jahnella Harvey bates stamped JH 000022 through JH 000023 provided with Rule 26 Disclosures 4 Quitclaim Deed Darrel Jackson and Jahnella Harvey to Jahnella Harvey hates stamped JI-l 000023 A though IH 000023 D provided with Rule 26 Disclosures 5 Text Messages See bates stamped documents JH 000422 though JH 0000623 provided with Rule 26 Disclosures 6 Sharing a Daughter ‘][13 The Court finds Demand for Production No 6 now MOOT because the Court has ordered the missing tax returns for the year 2017 2019 be supplemented and has also ordered that Defendant in good faith reasonably supplement the Plaintiff 3 request for payroll check stubs W 4 s and 1099 s In addition Plaintiff should have attached the Demand for Production No 5 that Defendant points to in their response if they wanted the Court to adequately understand the argument made  Darrel Jackson v Jahnella Harvey 8X 20 CV 00016 Memorandum Opinion 11114 In regard to Demand for Production No 7 the Court while reading the demand on its face is not actually understanding what Plaintiff has asked Plaintiff argues that this was not answered properly by asserting that these documents listed were not responsive to this demand Apparently, Defendant should have produced documents evidencing an interest in the land and then the house How Defendant is supposed to know what Plaintiff is asking based on their Demand is what has the Court confused Again, in the absence of a demonstrated need for the specific information sought a request can be overbroad and unduly burdensome Sheesley 2018 V I LEXIS 42 (Super Ct 2018) If anything the Court will not order a demand for production response be supplemented if it is unclear what Plaintiff was requesting The Court will not do the work of either counsel When a Demand for Production simply is not specific the Court cannot do anything but DENY supplementation for Demand for Production No 7 Demand for Production No 8 Demand for Production No 8 Please produce copies of all statements and other records for all joint accounts you have shared with Plaintiff at any bank or other financial institution within the last fifteen (15) years Response to Demand for Production No 8 Joint Account see bates stamped document 11-1 000714 attached hereto Demand for Production No 9 Demand for Production No 9 Please provide an executed copy of the medical authorization attached hereto Response to Demand for Production No 9 Objection, relevance ({[15 Apparently Defendant has failed to produce and provide all bank records from the joint account If that is true as Plaintiff asserts then the Court will ORDER this Response be supplemented in good faith and reasonably If that is not the case the Defendant should respond to counsel and to this Court that everything has been provided for ATTEST: TAMARA CHARLES CLERK OF THE COURT ____________________ COURT CLERK II 04/13/2021 ATTEST: TAMARA CHARLES CLERK OF THE COURT ____________________ COURT CLERK II 04/13/2021