Apparently the deposition for Little Rock homebuilder Tracie Kelley did not go smoothly, according to a motion seeking sanctions against Kelley that was filed by her former clients.
“Kelley frustrated and impeded the deposition by outright refusing to answer certain questions at all if she alone deemed the questions she was asked not to be relevant,” according to the motion filed last month by attorney Kayla M. Applegate of Maumelle.
Applegate represents Daniel and Ellen Williams of Pulaski County, who said in a lawsuit that they hired Kelley and her KellCo Custom Homes Inc. to build a million-dollar home in 2021. They said they spent $1.6 million on the Little Rock home before it was finished.
Kelley promised to cancel the contract and refund the couple’s money, but returned only $310,000, the lawsuit said. Then, the complaint said, Kelley herself moved into the house.
And you might recall, KellCo Custom Homes voluntarily surrendered its residential builder’s license last month.
But at the deposition Kelley sat for in July for the Williams case, Kelley’s responses to question were “either that she ‘did not know’ (alleged at least 110 times in the deposition), ‘did not recall’ (alleged 307 times in the deposition), or ‘was unable’ to answer (alleged 27 times in the deposition),” according to Applegate’s motion for sanctions.
As an example, Kelley was asked what she did for a living before becoming a contractor. “I don’t know,” she said.
In some cases, Kelley insisted she wasn’t refusing to answer the question. “I answered your question,” Kelley said. “You just didn’t like the answer.”
During the deposition, Applegate said that Kelley has a $908,000 loan secured by a mortgage against the property at issue in the case and asked Kelley what she did with the money.
“I don’t recall at this time,” Kelley said.
Applegate asked Kelley if she had memory issues. “Not to my knowledge,” Kelley said.
In the motion, Applegate said that Kelley and KellCo aren’t dealing in good faith or taking the matter seriously.
“The egregious conduct by Kelley in refusing to answer questions in her deposition, interrupting counsel repeatedly, going off on long tangents that did not answer the questions, or claiming lack of recollection or knowledge when she should have been able to answer warrants severe sanctions against both KellCo and Kelley,” the filing said.
Applegate wants the judge to toss Kelley and KellCo’s answer and award a default judgment against Kelley for $1.3 million. The plaintiffs then would seek punitive damages.
Attorney Charles Darwin “Skip” Davidson of Little Rock, who is representing Kelley and KellCo, filed their response to the motion Aug. 15 and said that sanctions are not appropriate. “Answers like ‘I don’t recall’ are not illegal,” according to Davidson’s filing.
He also said that Kelley didn’t violate any rule of discovery during the discovery.
The only appropriate sanction, if any, would be an order to compel further answers to the questions in the deposition, Davidson wrote.
Kelley and KellCo also asked that the motion for sanctions be dismissed.
Stay tuned.
But as it stands now, the jury trial is set to start May 5, in Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Patricia James’ courtroom.
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