​​SEC Slight Win As Court Denies Ripple’s Move to Dismiss Dr. | Crypto Bubble

​​SEC Slight Win As Court Denies Ripple’s Move to Dismiss Dr. Albert Metz Supplemental Expert Report & Other Developments

Efforts by blockchain company Ripple to strike Dr. Albert Metz’s supplemental expert report have ended in futility, as Judge Sarah Netburn has denied the defendants’ motion to strike.

With the most recent ruling, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s late filings of Dr. Metz’s supplemental expert rebuttal report will stand.

Recall that the deadline for the submission of all expert discovery reports was initially slated for August 16, 2021. However, following several disputes raised, the deadline was pushed to January 14, 2022, and subsequently February 28, 2022.

At the last deadline on February 28, 2022, the SEC served the defendants a new supplemental report from Dr. Metz, while citing information that is already known by Ripple and the Individual Defendants.

Based on this, Ripple moved to strike the Dr. Metz supplemental expert rebuttal report, saying the report does not meet the requirements of Civil Procedure Rule 26(e) and 37(c)(i).

The SEC argued that the defendant’s motion is one filed to strike out expert testimony, which is essential in the case.

“Defendants have not demonstrated that re-deposing Dr. Metz on his additional analysis and potentially filing their own supplemental reports would constitute, as they put it. … Overall, given the harshness of preclusion, I decline to strike Dr. Metz’s supplemental report,” Judge Netburn ruled.

Following the most recent ruling, the court extended the discovery deadline to May 13, 2022, to give more room to re-depose Dr. Metz’s analysis in the supplemental rebuttal report.

It is worth noting that the Dr. Metz report is drafted to show the economic significance and effects of Ripple’s public announcement with regard to the value of the XRP coin.