Opinion ID: 1807321
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr Hotter's testimony, and the use of his adverse examination.

Text: The plaintiff, Mr. Tills, called as his own witness Dr. John T. Hotter, chief of urology at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital, Inc. Prior to trial Dr. Hotter had been a party defendant and his deposition had been taken on notice. Before trial, however, Dr. Hotter won a motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against him. Thus, at the time of trial he was not a party. At trial Dr. Hotter was asked what was the custom and practice of the hospital in escorting patients who were retaining an enema. Hotter answered that there was no fixed policy in this regard. He indicated that  a decision to escort a patient to the bathroom or not would depend upon a number of variables, such as the age of the patient, his illness, the kind of enema, etc. Over objection, the plaintiff was allowed to show that Dr. Hotter's answer to the same question had been different when his deposition was taken. When his deposition had been taken, Dr. Hotter had stated that it was always the practice to accompany an ambulatory patient who was retaining an enema. In other words, at deposition Hotter said it was a fixed rule to always escort patients retaining an enema. At trial he indicated that the rule was not fixed but varied depending upon the patient. Defendant objected to the use of the deposition on the ground that it violated the rule against impeaching one's own witness. It was not error to allow plaintiff to read limited portions from Dr. Hotter's adverse examination in order to show the jury that Hotter's testimony at trial differed from that given in his adverse examination. There is a well-recognized exception to the rule against impeaching one's own witness. Where a party is surprised by the adverse testimony of his own witness, he may show the jury that such witness has testified differently on a prior occasion and in that way explain to the jury what induced him to call the witness in the first place. 58 Am. Jur., Witnesses, pp. 444, 445, sec. 799. See also: 4 Jones, Evidence, Civil and Criminal (5th ed.), pp. 1772, 1773, sec. 942. Moreover, even if this were error, defendant failed to preserve its objection on motions after verdict, and, therefore, it cannot, as a matter of right, raise them on appeal. Wells v. Dairyland Mut. Ins. Co. (1957), 274 Wis. 505, 80 N. W. 2d 380; Schuster v. St. Vincent Hospital (1969), 45 Wis. 2d 135, 145, 172 N. W. 2d 421; and Jonas v. Northeastern Mut. Fire Ins. Co. (1969), 44 Wis. 2d 347, 171 N. W. 2d 185. In addition, the testimony from Dr. Hotter's adverse went to whether  it was good hospital practice to permit a patient, retaining an enema, to walk to the bathroom unattended. Thus, even if it were error and even if it had been properly preserved for appeal, it could not be viewed as prejudicial error because this testimony was merely cumulative to that of three other qualified witnesses, to wit: Dr. Graziano, Mrs. Zillmer and Nurse Arns.