Opinion ID: 484310
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Medical Expert Witnesses

Text: 46 The defense had two medical expert witnesses: Dr. Sharma, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Petersons, a neurosurgeon. Both of these doctors examined Heath on two separate occasions. Each prepared an initial report and a subsequent report. During the discovery phase of the case, the magistrate ordered all defense medical reports turned over to Heath. The defense turned over the second reports, but did not turn over the initial reports. These initial reports were furnished to Heath's counsel at the time of trial.
47 Dr. Sharma testified and was excused. Thereafter, Heath's counsel claimed he learned of the existence of Dr. Sharma's initial medical report only after Sharma had completed his testimony. He requested permission to recall Dr. Sharma so that Sharma could be cross-examined on his initial report. The district court refused to permit Heath to recall Sharma. The court found that Heath's counsel must have been aware of the existence of Sharma's initial report during the discovery phase of the litigation and rejected Heath's claim of surprise. Heath's counsel was then permitted to read into the record, before the jury, a paragraph from Dr. Sharma's report which Heath contended impeached Sharma. 48 The defense may have disobeyed a discovery order in failing to turn over Sharma's initial report earlier, but the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit Heath to recall Sharma. Since Heath had adequate notice of the existence of the initial Sharma report during the discovery phase of the litigation, he could have moved to compel its production and neglected to do so. See Peraza v. Delameter, 722 F.2d 1455, 1456 (9th Cir.1984). 49
50 Heath's counsel was provided with a copy of Dr. Petersons' initial report before Petersons testified. Heath contends, however, that because the defense failed to turn over this report until the time of trial he was deprived of an opportunity to evaluate the report and to effectively question Petersons because [he] had no opportunity to read, digest, and evaluate that report, and then to consult with appropriate experts to formulate questions for Petersons. The record reflects, however, that Dr. Petersons was present and ready to testify at the trial on Friday, November 8, 1985. When Heath's counsel became aware of the existence of Dr. Petersons' initial report, he moved to exclude Petersons' testimony based upon his claim that failure to provide the report violated the magistrate's discovery order in the case. The district court refused to exclude Dr. Petersons' testimony because to have done so would have been too severe a sanction, even if the discovery order had been violated. The district court then continued the trial to the following Tuesday, November 12th, so that Heath's counsel could review Petersons' initial report and consult with his own expert. Heath's medical expert was scheduled to testify at 9:00 a.m. on November 12th. Dr. Petersons' testimony was rescheduled to 1:30 p.m. on November 12th. Heath's argument that he was denied the opportunity to review Dr. Petersons' initial report and consult with his own medical expert in advance of examining Petersons is without merit. That simply did not occur. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to exclude Dr. Petersons' testimony. 51 AFFIRMED.