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Mizell v. Glover9/3/2002
option of the SCRE. Rule 803(18) is directly on point, and it does not distinguish between treatises written by the testifying witness and treatises authored by others. Rule 803(18) applies to both treatises written by the witness and those written by others, barring admission of the treatise itself in both cases. Therefore, it was proper for the trial court to deny admission of the article as an exhibit, but to allow the Mizells to cross-examine Dr. Buckholz regarding the article, publishing portions of it through their questions. Accordingly, we affirm the Court of Appeals on this issue.
III. Scope of Podiatrist Expert Testimony
The Mizells argue the trial court erred by permitting Dr. Martin, a podiatrist testifying as an expert for Dr. Glover, to testify regarding Mrs. Mizell's treatment with Dr. Romanoff, an anesthesiologist at the Southeastern Pain Clinic. We disagree.
The Mizells' introduced the deposition of Dr. Romanoff, in which he reviewed Dr. Glover's treatment records of Mrs. Mizell, to show that Dr. Glover erred in not diagnosing Mrs. Mizell with RSD earlier. In turn, Dr. Glover called Dr. Martin to cast doubt on Dr. Romanoff's deposition testimony by suggesting that the pain clinic where Dr. Romanoff practices also had trouble diagnosing Mrs. Mizell with RSD. Dr. Martin related his understanding, from reviewing the records, of what took place at the pain clinic.
Dr. Martin testified, in part, "there was a very confusing picture to the pain management doctors...." The Mizells' counsel objected, stating Dr. Martin was only qualified as a podiatrist, not as anesthesiologist capable of treating pain. The court overruled the objection on grounds that Dr. Martin's opinion was based upon a review of the records in the case, permissible under the rules pertaining to experts.
The Court of Appeals found no error in the trial court's ruling, finding Dr. Martin's testimony was merely a recital of the initial treatment at the clinic rather than opinion on the quality and scope of the clinic's treatment. On appeal, the Mizells argue again that Dr. Martin, although an expert in podiatry, was not qualified to testify as an expert in the area of pain management.
Rule 702, SCRE, 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.
This Court has given the trial court wide discretion in determining the qualification of expert witnesses and the admissibility of their testimony. McGee v. Bruce, 321 S.C. 340, 468 S.E.2d 633 (1996); Creed v. Columbia, 310 S.C. 342, 426 S.E.2d 785 (1993). A trial court's ruling to exclude or admit expert testimony will not be disturbed on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion. Jenkins v. E.L. Long Motor Lines, 233 S.C. 87, 103 S.E.2d 523 (1958).
For a court to find a witness competent to testify as an expert, the witness must be better qualified than the jury to form an opinion on the particular subject of the testimony. Gooding v. St. Francis Xavier Hosp., 326 S.C. 248, 487 S.E.2d 596 (1997). In Gooding, this Court found error in the trial court's exclusion of the testimony of an Emergency Medical Technician ("EMT") regarding intubation procedures, finding the EMT had sufficient knowledge of the procedure to give an opinion on a doctor's performance of the procedure. This Court found the disparity in training and education between the EMT and the doctor he testified against was relevant to the EMT's credibility as a wit
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