Opinion ID: 1592335
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Discredit of Margaret Sikyta's Testimony.

Text: Arrow claims that Margaret Sikyta's testimony concerning her injuries is discredited as a matter of law. To support its position, Arrow refers to State v. Robertson, 223 Neb. 825, 828, 394 N.W.2d 635, 637 (1986): Where it is clear that a party as a witness, to meet the exigencies in pending litigation and without reasonable explanation, changes such witness' testimony and then testifies to facts materially different concerning a vital issue, the subsequent and altered testimony from such witness is discredited as a matter of law and should be disregarded. See, also, Momsen v. Nebraska Methodist Hospital, 210 Neb. 45, 313 N.W.2d 208 (1981). During trial, Margaret Sikyta offered an explanation for her inconsistent deposition statement concerning existence of her back problem before the bus accident, namely, the possibility of cancer caused Margaret to focus on her medical examination and treatment for pain in her hip and overlook previous medical attention to her back. We are unable to conclude, as a matter of law, that her explanation is unreasonable and, therefore, a basis for mandatory discredit of her testimony. Whether Margaret Sikyta's explanation is reasonable and preserves her credibility is a matter for a jury's evaluation concerning witness credibility or weight to be given a witness' testimony. The Fulcher Deposition. Finally, Arrow claims that there was an insufficient showing that Dr. Fulcher could not or would not personally appear in court to testify in the trial. In particular, Arrow contends that Sikyta failed to provide the trial court with a sworn factual basis, for example, an affidavit or testimony, for a determination whether a deponent was unavailable as a witness at trial. Sikyta's lawyer never requested a subpoena for Dr. Fulcher's attendance at Sikyta's trial. See United States v. Bowen, 411 F.2d 923 (5th Cir.1969) (witness, who previously testified in a deposition, could not be located for service of a subpoena to compel attendance at trial; deposition testimony was allowed). Rather, regarding prospective use of the Fulcher videotape deposition as substantive evidence at trial, Sikyta's lawyer alluded to the absence of a subpoena for Dr. Fulcher as a result of some agreement or stipulation that the deposition could be used in place of testimony adduced through Dr. Fulcher's personal appearance in court. However, stipulated use of the Fulcher deposition as a substitute for the physician's testimony adduced through courtroom interrogation does not appear in the deposition. Hence, we must conclude that there was no stipulation for use of Dr. Fulcher's videotape deposition pursuant to Neb.Ct.R. of Discovery 32(a)(3)(E) (rev. 1989), although the circumstances, especially obtaining the deposition during trial, strongly suggest arrangements for more than a discovery deposition. The Nebraska Discovery Rules for All Civil Cases, which became effective on January 1, 1983, are generally and substantially patterned after the corresponding discovery rules in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The tenor of Rule 32 is to prefer live testimony, that is, oral testimony adduced in a courtroom within the presence and hearing of a jury. Referring to Fed.R. Civ.P. 32, the court observed in Klepal v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 229 F.2d 610, 612 (2d Cir.1956): [S]olicitude [is] disclosed in the rules generally for trials on oral testimony and the disposition to avoid trial on depositions alone where it can properly be avoided or where injustice or unfairness will not result. See, also, Rule 32(a)(3)(F) (due regard to the importance of presenting the testimony of witnesses orally in open court). However, Rule 32(a)(3) does allow use of a witness' deposition in certain situations. A party seeking to admit or use a deposition on the basis that the witness is unavailable must establish that the requirements of Rule 32(a)(3) are satisfied. Rascon v. Hardiman, 803 F.2d 269 (7th Cir.1986). A showing of witness unavailability may be made through counsel's statements to the court. Castilleja v. Southern Pacific Company, 445 F.2d 183 (5th Cir. 1971). See, e.g., Comeaux v. T.L. James & Co., Inc., 666 F.2d 294 (5th Cir. 1982); Nanda v. Ford Motor Company, 509 F.2d 213 (7th Cir.1974); United States v. Bowen, supra ; Frederick v. Yellow Cab Co. of Philadelphia, 200 F.2d 483 (3d Cir.1952). Determination that a witness is unavailable, thereby authorizing use of the witness' deposition pursuant to Rule 32(a)(3)(E), is within the discretion of a trial court, whose ruling will be upheld on appeal in the absence of an abuse of discretion. See Castilleja v. Southern Pacific Company, supra . See, also, Pearl v. Keystone Consol. Industries, Inc., 884 F.2d 1047 (7th Cir.1989); Comeaux v. T.L. James & Co., Inc., supra ; Huff v. Marine Tank Testing Corp., 631 F.2d 1140 (4th Cir.1980); Nanda v. Ford Motor Company, supra ; United States v. Bowen, supra . Also, we note that Sikyta's lawyer stated that Dr. Fulcher had advised me several times that the physician would be occupied in surgery during the week of Sikyta's trial. The statements by Margaret Sikyta's lawyer certainly dispel any notion that use of Dr. Fulcher's deposition became a necessity as the result of an emergency or something unexpected or unforeseeable, such as a sudden summons to surgery. Under the circumstances, a predeposition application for use of a deposition under Rule 32(a)(3)(F) might have avoided some of the procedural turmoil and headache. Rule 32(a)(3)(F) provides that a deposition may be used [u]pon application and notice prior to the taking of the deposition, that circumstances exist such as to make it desirable, in the interest of justice and with due regard to the importance of presenting the testimony of witnesses orally in open court, to allow the deposition to be used. Most curious is the fact that Dr. Fulcher was available for a late afternoon deposition, but no subpoena was issued for Dr. Fulcher's court appearance to give testimony in the jury's presence at the time when he was otherwise available for the deposition. Consequently, we need not continue further into the propriety of using Dr. Fulcher's deposition in place of his testimony adduced through his personal appearance in the courtroom during Margaret Sikyta's trial. From our examination of the Fulcher deposition, we note that Arrow's lawyer extensively cross-examined Dr. Fulcher. Moreover, Arrow does not demonstrate that use of the Fulcher deposition deprived Arrow of a substantial right, prevented a just result, or otherwise worked adversely or prejudicially to Arrow's case or defense. Arrow would be hard pressed to show deprivation of a substantial right or prejudice in light of the verdict favorable to Arrow. For that reason, we decline to delve further into the question about a proper procedure for showing that a witness is unavailable within the purview of Rule 32(a)(3)(E). As a concluding comment about use of the Fulcher deposition, we recommend that trial courts abstain from involvement in the production or gathering of information pertinent to witness unavailability as a basis for use of a witness' deposition pursuant to Rule 32(a)(3). Such involvement not only complicates application of our standard of review, but presents unnecessary problems at the trial level in reference to a determination whether a witness is unavailable.