Case Title: Wood v. Woodham

Citation: 561 So. 2d 224

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1989-12-22T00:00:00Z

Document:
561 So. 2d 224 (1989)
Fate WOOD and Annette Wood
v.
Dr. David Bruce WOODHAM and Southeast Neurological Associates, P.A.
88-515.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
December 22, 1989.
Rehearing Denied May 18, 1990.
M. Clay Alspaugh, S. Shay Samples and Ronald R. Crook of Hogan, Smith, Alspaugh, Samples & Pratt, Birmingham, for appellants.
Thomas H. Keene of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, Montgomery, for appellees.
ADAMS, Justice.
In this medical malpractice case Fate and Annette Wood allege that Dr. David Bruce Woodham "negligently performed an anterior cervical fusion on Fate Wood and caused, allowed, or permitted his esophagus to be perforated during the surgery." We reverse the defendants' judgment and remand.
The issues in this case are such that a detailed account of the facts is unnecessary. Therefore, pertinent facts will be incorporated during a discussion of the issues involved in this appeal.
The Woods first argue that the trial court erred by refusing to strike three jurors for cause. During voir dire, the following took place with regard to one of the jurors in question:
The second juror, Mary Grissett was questioned as follows:
"(No Response.)
Finally, the following transpired with regard to the third juror, Gwendolyn G. Crittenton:
Following the voir dire, the trial judge refused to grant the Woods' challenges for cause with regard to these three jurors. As a result, the Woods were forced to use three of their peremptory strikes to strike Mrs. Crittenton, Mrs. Dillard, and Mrs. Grissett.
*227 This same date this Court in Knop v. McCain, 561 So. 2d 229 (Ala.1989) (opinion on application for rehearing), has reversed a case for error on the part of the trial judge in denying a plaintiff's challenge for cause. In that case, the law in this area was summarized as follows:
In Knop, supra, one of the prospective jurors stated, "The evidence would have to be, I guess ... the evidence would have to be overwhelming for your client before I would be willing to give her money." 561 So. 2d  at 230. That same juror, in responding to questions from plaintiff's counsel, stated that she "probably" could be "fair and impartial" to the plaintiff, although there was "some doubt." Id. at 232. Even though that juror later answered affirmatively that she could listen to the evidence and apply to that evidence the law as explained by the judge, this Court was of the opinion that her bias was strong enough to indicate "probable prejudice." Id. at 232, 234.
In the case sub judice, the facts indicate the same probable prejudice as found in Knop. Her answers to the Court's questioning, supra, indicate an obvious vacillation on Mrs. Grissett's part with regard to the questions asked by the judge. First, she stated that she would rather not serve on the jury; then she said she would do "her best" to make a decision based only on the evidence; then, she did not respond to the court's attempt to clarify her answer; and finally, she responded affirmatively to the court's inquiry as to whether she could base her decision only on the evidence and the judge's instructions.
With regard to the questioning of Mrs. Crittenton, she simply answered all questions asked of her in the affirmative and, without more in-depth questions, it appears that she, like Mrs. Grissett, exemplified the probable prejudice that should have entitled the Woods to have at least these two *228 jurors stricken for cause. While we note that both jurors eventually stated that they could decide the case based only on the evidence, the simple extraction of an affirmative response from a potential juror does not necessarily absolve that juror of probable prejudice. For this reason, we reverse the judgment and remand the cause for a new trial.
For the sake of expediency, we will address the second issue that the Woods raise on appeal. That issue is whether the trial judge erred in refusing to allow them to use an answer to their request for admissions to bear upon Dr. Woodham's credibility. When the Woods filed their complaint, they also filed their request for admissions; one of their requests was that Dr. Woodham admit that he perforated Mr. Wood's esophagus. On September 22, 1982, Dr. Woodham answered that he was without sufficient information to admit or deny that he had done so. When Dr. Woodham filed his answer to the complaint on September 30, 1982, and again when he was deposed on September 14, 1985, he denied having perforated the esophagus. The trial court, in refusing to allow the line of questioning, stated:
We are of the opinion that Dr. Woodham's initial response to the request for admission, that is, that he was without sufficient knowledge to admit or deny, did not constitute an admission and that the judge did not err in refusing to allow questioning in that regard to impeach Dr. Woodham's later denial. There was evidence that Dr. Woodham needed to consult the Veterans' Administration hospital record before answering the request, and, therefore, we find no error.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment is due to be, and it hereby is, reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and JONES, ALMON and SHORES, JJ., concur.
MADDOX, HOUSTON and STEAGALL, JJ., dissent.
MADDOX, Justice (dissenting).
Although I concurred in Knop v. McCain, 561 So. 2d 229 (Ala.1989), I do not think that the jurors in this case showed such probable prejudice that they should have been struck for cause. The uncertainty displayed by the jurors here just does not indicate the degree of prejudice shown by the juror comments in Knop.
The jury in this case heard the evidence and found in favor of the defendant; there has been no showing of any unfairness or prejudice towards the plaintiff that would taint the jury's verdict. There has been no showing that the failure of the trial court to strike these jurors for cause led to any actual prejudice to the plaintiff's case, and, in such questions of prejudice, much is left to the discretion of the trial judge.
I believe that this Court should not get into the area of reviewing jury verdicts in a case such as this, where the only possible prejudice shown is that a party may have had to use a peremptory strike to eliminate a juror that that party may not have wanted. That is the reason for peremptory strikes. Ala.Code 1975, § 12-16-55, states:
The jurors found to be challengeable for cause here, even though they may have been more knowledgeable in the healthcare field, nevertheless were part of the "fair cross section of the population," and, unless *229 there was a showing of such bias as would disqualify them for cause, they were just as qualified as a juror who may have been a patient and a recipient of healthcare services, or as some other member of the population.
I joined in Knop because I was of the opinion in that case that the challenged jurors had expressed such a bias as to make them disqualified for cause.
No party is entitled to have a jury that is favorable to one side or the other in a lawsuit.
The rule announced today, in my opinion, expands the scope of review in cases such as this and can be used by appellants in the future whether they were plaintiffs or defendants below. This Court has recently expanded the prohibition against racial discrimination in the selection of jurors into the area of civil litigation, Thomas v. Diversified Contractors, Inc., 551 So. 2d 343 (Ala.1989), and I think that we should be very careful in allowing jurors to be struck for cause merely because one party does not like them or because that party can question them in such a manner as to make their answers sound equivocal. This is not a Knop case.
HOUSTON, J., concurs.