National Management Services, Inc. v. Qwest Dex, Inc.

MEMORANDUM *

Qwest Dex, Inc. appeals an evidentiary ruling made during the trial of a contract suit by National Management Services, Inc. NMS cross-appeals a denial of prejudgment interest. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and affirm in both appeals.

The district court’s limitation of the scope of Dex’s cross-examination under Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b) was not an abuse of discretion. The court’s ruling did not conflict with United States v. Jackson, 882 F.2d 1444 (9th Cir.1989), which interpreted Rule 608(b) to allow “the prosecutor [to] impeach Jackson with the information concerning” a prior misdeed. Id. at 1448 . Here Dex was similarly permitted to cross-examine NMS’s witness about the acts underlying his bar disciplinary *660 proceedings. The Jackson court permitted confrontation with a signed statement — itself not admitted into evidence— as to the witness’s prior acts, id. at 1447-49 , and Dex was analogously allowed to confront NMS’s witness with questioning as to whether a proceeding had found that he had committed certain acts. The district court’s exclusion of the nature of the proceedings, the entities involved, and the penalties imposed did…