CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI on Tuesday ruled that Imperial Pacific International LLC violated her discovery order and is in contempt of court.
The judge also granted Pacific Rim Land Development LLC’s motion for sanctions and ordered IPI to pay for the new set of attorney’s fees and costs associated for bringing the motion for sanctions, including the transcripts for the upcoming depositions.
Pacific Rim has sued IPI for breach of contract and breach of promissory note.
Also on Tuesday, the judge ordered IPI to produce documents no later than April 2 and granted Pacific Rim’s previous petition for attorney fees and costs.
She ordered IPI to pay Pacific Rim for attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $3,016.88 no later than March 30.
Pacific Rim, in its motion for sanctions, noted that on Feb. 26, the court ordered IPI to designate witnesses and appear at a deposition on Feb. 20.
Pacific Rim, which is represented by attorney Colin Thompson, stated that IPI failed to present witness(es) with sufficient knowledge on the topics noticed.
According to testimony taken on March 16, IPI’s designated witnesses did little to prepare for the deposition, and IPI did not produce the documents demanded in the notice, Thompson said.
The lawyer said the court should consider whether sanctions, including striking IPI’s answer and entering a default judgment, should be imposed.
Because IPI disobeyed the court’s order, it should be ordered to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed, Thompson said.
Attorney Juan T. Lizama, who made an appearance for IPI, said as he was recently retained by IPI, he was seeking continuance which the court denied.
On April 27, 2020, Judge Manglona entered judgment in favor of Pacific Rim in its lawsuit against IPI.
On May 28, 2020, the federal court entered an amended civil judgment in favor of Pacific Rim in the amount of $6.8 million including the principal amount and attorney’s fees and costs.
IPI has appealed the judgment and that appeal is currently pending.
Judge Manglona has also found IPI in contempt of court for not complying with discovery and deposition orders in other civil lawsuits before the federal court.
