Opinion ID: 714141
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Did Cross-Examination of Plaintiff Open the Door?

Text: 31 Plaintiff maintains, however, that the estate opened the door by cross-examining plaintiff's witnesses about the transactions between Rosenfeld and Basquiat, and by examining the estate administrator, Gerard Basquiat. As a consequence, plaintiff declares, the estate is attempting to use the Dead Man's Statute offensively and does not deserve its protection. We reject this argument because the estate was entitled to give such evidence in the face of an erroneous evidentiary ruling allowing Rosenfeld's former testimony to be read to the jury. Although CPLR 4519 does not bar an interested party from testifying where the estate opens the door by introducing evidence regarding the relevant transaction, Wood, 52 N.Y.2d at 145, 436 N.Y.S.2d 850, 418 N.E.2d 365; Nay v. Curley, 113 N.Y. 575, 578-79, 21 N.E. 698 (1889), or by questioning its adversary with respect to the transaction, Wood, 52 N.Y.2d at 145, 436 N.Y.S.2d 850, 418 N.E.2d 365; Cole v. Sweet, 187 N.Y. 488, 491, 80 N.E. 355 (1907), no door was opened in the instant case. 32 When the trial court has made an erroneous ruling as to the admissibility of the testimony of an interested witness, the estate is entitled to test the credibility of the witnesses regarding the transaction which plaintiff has put in issue. See Wood, 52 N.Y.2d at 147, 436 N.Y.S.2d 850, 418 N.E.2d 365; cf. Continental Diamond Mines, Inc. v. Kopp, 28 A.D.2d 518, 518, 279 N.Y.S.2d 752 (1967) (The defendants' objections, properly interposed to such testimony [from an interested witness], were not waived by their subsequent cross-examination ... with regard to the testimony improperly admitted.). The estate here unsuccessfully argued to the district court that Rosenfeld's testimony was inadmissible. Following the court's ruling, the estate was entitled to probe Rosenfeld's credibility and to shed whatever light it could on the alleged transactions with the deceased. 33 Nor is it relevant that such cross-examination occurred before the reading of the disputed testimony. The district court had already made its ruling and Rosenfeld was on the stand before her former testimony was read. Given plaintiff's proffer and the ruling in limine, the estate was on notice that the testimony would be admitted into evidence. Thus, the estate was warranted in cross-examining Rosenfeld, and introducing evidence of her transactions with Basquiat, without opening any evidentiary door. 34 Moreover, to find a waiver would be inconsistent with the policies expressed in the Dead Man's Statute. The statute embodies a careful balance of rights. Cole, 187 N.Y. at 493, 80 N.E. 355. Testimony from an interested witness is inadmissible where death has prevented the estate from giving its version of the events. It is when the estate advances evidence of the events that it has opened the door, and in such case a claimant against the estate may elicit such other testimony as needed to complete the picture. In Cole, the estate waived the protection of the statute by reading the testimony of an interested witness into evidence. To prevent unfair advantage, the interested witness was permitted to testify fully regarding her transaction with the decedent. Id. Because the testimony was read to the jury over the estate's objection in the present litigation, it would disserve the objectives of the statute to hold that the estate waived its protection by cross-examining Rosenfeld.