A Bronx judge suggested Tuesday that Alex Rodriguez be videotaped for a deposition related to his medical malpractice lawsuit but that the footage not be made public.
“Why don’t we agree that counsel for each party will have a copy of the videotape [that] they agreed not to disseminate it for now?” said Bronx Supreme Court Judge Douglas McKeon to lawyers for both sides in the contentious lawsuit.
“If one chooses to disseminate it in some fashion, they will give notice to the court and to the other side and we will have a conversation about it.”
But the lawyer representing Yankees team doctor Christopher Ahmad, who is being sued by A-Rod for allegedly misdiagnosing a hip injury, said he wasn’t sure if he’s ready to agree to keep the tape private. That would be giving Rodriguez preferential treatment, since anyone else’s taped deposition is not held under lock and key, he said. The lawyer, Peter Crean, requested more time to discuss the matter with his team.
Both sides are due back in court in early April.
And “if we can’t agree on something, then I’ll just decide it,” McKeon said.
Rodriguez is suing Ahmad after going for an MRI that revealed a hip injury, claiming he was not told just how serious it was. He continued playing with the injury for the remainder of the 2012 season, which his lawyer said only made the injury worse.
A-Rod’s lawyer, Alan Ripka, argued last month that a videotaped deposition of his client would only serve to publicly humiliate the beleaguered Yankee third baseman — and used as an example Justin Bieber’s now-infamous deposition in an assault case involving his bodyguard.
“[Bieber’s] deposition was disseminated, and he is being called arrogant,” Ripak said. “Here is a perfect case of every iPhone getting a copy of [a] deposition. What more evidence do I need than that?”