Interrogatories

What It Is

Interrogatories are written questions served on the opposing party that must be answered under oath within 30 days (federal). Under Federal Rule 33, each party is limited to 25 interrogatories (including subparts) unless the court orders otherwise.

What to Ask

In a § 1983 case against police officers, strong interrogatories include:

• Identify all witnesses to the incident
• Describe the training received on use of force, arrest procedures, or the specific conduct at issue
• Identify all prior complaints or disciplinary actions against the defendant officer
• State the factual basis for each affirmative defense (especially qualified immunity)
• Identify all documents related to the incident (reports, recordings, communications)
• Describe the officer’s version of events in detail

The Problem with Interrogatories

Government defendants are notorious for giving non-answers:

• “Defendant objects as overly broad and unduly burdensome” (on a straightforward question)
• “Defendant refers plaintiff to the police report” (instead of actually answering)
• “Defendant has no information responsive to this interrogatory” (when they clearly do)

Your remedy: motion to compel. Document the deficient response, meet and confer, then ask the court to order a real answer.

Tips

• Don’t waste questions on things you can get from documents — Use requests for production instead
• Ask “contention interrogatories” — “State all facts supporting your defense of qualified immunity” forces them to commit to a position
• Use subparts carefully — Courts count related subparts as one question, but truly independent subparts count separately
• Save some for after depositions — You can serve additional interrogatories by stipulation or court order if needed

Key Rules

• Rule 33 — Interrogatories to parties (25 limit, 30-day response)
• Rule 37(a) — Motion to compel answers