Greenman v 2451 Broadway Mkt., Inc., 2020 NY Slip Op 01962 [1st Dept. 2020]
The trial court erred in permitting defendants to use the transcripts of plaintiff’s and his nonparty wife’s depositions at trial, since the transcripts had never been served upon plaintiff and his wife in accordance with CPLR 3116(a) (Li Xian v Tat Lee Supplies Co., Inc., 170 AD3d 538 [1st Dept 2019]; Ramirez v Willow Ridge Country Club, 84 AD3d 452 [1st Dept 2011]). Defendants used the transcripts extensively, both on cross-examination and as direct evidence, and, given the centrality of the issue of credibility, the error cannot be regarded as harmless (see Rivera v New York City Tr. Auth., 54 AD3d 545, 548 [1st Dept 2008]).
The trial court further erred in permitting defense counsel to argue that the actual cause of plaintiff’s fall was the effect of the Valium he had been given earlier that day in connection with a medical visit, since no evidence had been offered as to the dose plaintiff was given, the length of time the Valium would have remained in his system after his medical procedure, or the effect the Valium would have had on his ability to ambulate at the time of his accident (see Kaminer v John Hancock Mut. Ins. Co., 199 AD2d 53 [1st Dept 1993]).
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