Opinion ID: 1359764
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: exclusion of expert testimony offered by plaintiffs

Text: Plaintiffs contend that the trial court committed an abuse of discretion and prejudicial error in excluding in its entirety the testimony taken by way of deposition of Dr. Frank Webb, now deceased. Dr. Webb's testimony was offered for the bearing it would have on anatomy, pathology, histology and causation as involved in the case at bar. Dr. Webb's testimony was not offered as expert evidence on the proper and requisite degree of skill and care used by practicing physicians in the community. (See Huffman v. Lindquist, 37 Cal.2d 465, 478 [234 P.2d 34, 29 A.L.R.2d 485], where Dr. Webb's testimony was held properly excluded when offered to show the required standard of care.) Dr. Webb's testimony was offered to show the location and cause of Mrs. Seneris' paralysis; that her injury was traumatic and mechanical in nature; the means by which the injury occurred; that the anesthetic needle had been inserted in the area opposite the twelfth thoracic and first lumbar vertebrae; that the spinal cord had been punctured and the cord injured by the anesthetic fluid. Among Dr. Webb's many qualifications as an expert in the anatomical field, and as to the cause of plaintiff wife's injuries, we note that he had seen about 1,000 spinal cords; had examined from 100 to 150 cases involving injury to the spinal cord with resulting paralysis; that in autopsies he had examined the spinal cord to determine the location of an injury thereto; that he had examined the spinal cord both grossly and microscopically; that he was able to trace and connect the history of paralysis to an injury to the spinal cord; that he had treated, advised and consulted many patients suffering from disease, injury or damage to the spinal cord. [22] In Agnew v. City of Los Angeles, 97 Cal. App.2d 557, 565 [218 P.2d 66], where the court reversed a judgment because the trial court had erroneously excluded the testimony of one Dr. Andrews, it was said that the court effectively denied plaintiff a fair opportunity to prove her case. It was there held that To qualify a witness as a medical expert it must be shown that the witness (1) has the required professional knowledge, learning and skill of the subject under inquiry sufficient to qualify him to speak with authority on the subject, and (2) is familiar with the standards required of physicians under similar circumstances. ( Moore v. Belt, 34 Cal.2d 525, 532 [212 P.2d 509]; Sinz v. Owens, 33 Cal.2d 749, 753 [205 P.2d 3, 8 A.L.R.2d 757]; 32 C.J.S. 261, § 537.) [23] Where a witness has disclosed sufficient knowledge of the subject to entitle his opinion to go to the jury, the question of the degree of his knowledge goes more to the weight of the evidence than its admissibility. ( Cloud v. Market Street Ry. Co., 74 Cal. App.2d 92, 100 [168 P.2d 191]; 10 Cal.Jur. 963; 2 Wigmore on Evidence, 3d ed., 641; 31 C.J.S. 99-101.) [24] The qualification of an expert is ordinarily a matter addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and its ruling will not be disturbed on appeal unless a clear abuse is shown. ( Sinz v. Owens, 33 Cal.2d 749, 753 [205 P.2d 3, 8 A.L.R.2d 757]; Mirich v. Balsinger, 53 Cal. App.2d 103, 114 [127 P.2d 639].) [25] The determinative test as to whether the trial court properly exercised its discretion is whether the witness has disclosed sufficient knowledge of the subject to entitle his opinion to go to the jury. ( Valdez v. Percy, 35 Cal. App.2d 485, 492 [96 P.2d 142]; Hutter v. Hommel, 213 Cal. 677, 681 [3 P.2d 554]; Pierce v. Paterson, 50 Cal. App.2d 486, 491 [123 P.2d 544]; Mirich v. Balsinger, 53 Cal. App.2d 103, 115, 118 [127 P.2d 639]; 32 C.J.S. 261, § 537.) [26] In addition to the specific qualifications heretofore set forth, Dr. Webb was a physician and surgeon licensed in California since 1920. He had been in private practice in New York; had been in charge of railroad employees hospital where he had treated men paralyzed because of injury to the spinal cord. Dr. Webb had also taught anatomy and histology in the University of Southern California medical school as well as in its dental college. Dr. Webb had been autopsy surgeon for the county of Los Angeles for over 30 years prior to his death. It appears to us that the trial court clearly abused its discretion in excluding Dr. Webb's deposition and effectively denied plaintiff a fair opportunity to prove her case. ( Agnew v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 97 Cal. App.2d 557, 568.)