 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
McPherson v. Lake Area Medical Center5/24/2000
ven though La.R.S. 40:1299.47(H) provides that " ny report of the expert opinion reached by the medical review panel shall be admissible as evidence in any action subsequently brought by the claimant in a court of law, [. . .] and either party shall have the right to call, at his cost, any member of the medical review panel as a witness," when the liability of the health care provider is admitted under the provisions of La.R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5), the opinion of the medical review panel is irrelevant as is any testimony of the panel's members, except as to the amount of damages sustained by the victim in excess of $100,000.00. "Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible." La.Code Evid. art. 402.
At the trial of the matter, Appellant presented the testimony of Dr. Jonathan C. Caulkwood. The Defendant also sought to introduce the video-taped deposition of Dr. Craig H. Smith. Both Drs. Caulkwood and Smith practice in the field of neuro-ophthalmology. Appellant complains that the trial judge erred in excluding the testimony of Dr. Smith. The trial judge stated he was excluding the deposition because he found it to be cumulative and "the probative value of the evidence outweighed the prejudicial effect of the evidence." He further stated that introduction of the deposition would violate the principle of efficiency.
La.Code Evid. art. 702 provides:
If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.
Expert testimony, like any other form of evidence, must be relevant; it is subject to the La.Code Evid. art. 403 balance whereby its probative value is weighed against the "danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or waste of time." If its probative value is substantially outweighed by these factors, the otherwise relevant evidence is inadmissible.
In Frederick v. Woman's Hosp. of Acadiana, 626 So.2d 467 (La.App. 3 Cir.1993), writ denied, 93-2991 (La.2/4/94), 633 So.2d 169, this court approved of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal's approach to the evaluation of the admissibility of expert testimony, pronounced in Adams v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 589 So.2d 1219 (La.App. 4 Cir.1991), writs denied, 592 So.2d 414, 415 (La.1992). In Adams, the fourth circuit adopted the Christophersen v. Allied-Signal Corp., 939 F.2d 1106 (5th Cir.1991) interpretation of Federal Rule of Evidence article 403 for the evaluation of the admissibility of expert testimony under Louisiana law. That four-inquiry approach is as follows:
(1) whether the witness is qualified to express an expert opinion, (2) whether the facts upon which the expert relies are the same type as are relied upon by other experts in the field, (3) whether in reaching his conclusion the expert used well-founded methodology, and (4) assuming the expert's testimony passes these tests, whether the testimony's potential for unfair prejudice substantially outweighs its probative value under the relevant rules.
Adams, 589 So.2d at 1223. In Frederick, 626 So.2d 467, this court broadened the fourth inquiry to include consideration of the cumulative nature of the expert testimony, since Article 403 provides a balance of probative value not only against unfair prejudice but also against undue delay or waste of time considerations.
The Frederick court reasoned that, in cases where the first three Adams inquiries are positively answered, the following criteria applies to the
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|