Opinion ID: 2617494
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the evidence of the doctor's previous implantation

Text: In his next assignment of error, Tansy asserts that the trial court erred in permitting evidence, over objection, regarding a prior incident in which Dr. Barnes is alleged to have improperly implanted the OmniPhase. Tansy complains that the admission of this evidence was in violation of 12 O.S. 1991 § 2404(B). Section 2404(B) reads: B. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident. Dacomed urges that this evidence was admissible as falling within one of the enumerated exceptions of Section 2404(B), namely that of knowledge. Dacomed claims that the evidence showed Dr. Barnes' knowledge of how to determine whether it had been implanted correctly, and knowledge of how to conceal an error. Character evidence, as mentioned in section 2404, involves a generalized description of one's disposition in respect to a general trait such as honesty, temperance or carefulness... . Whinery, Oklahoma Evidence: Commentary on the Law of Evidence, § 15.03, quoting Frase v. Henry, 444 F.2d 1228, 1332 (10th Cir.1971). The restrictions on its admissibility apply in criminal and civil cases. Title 12 O.S. 1991 § 2103. [3] Under Section 2404(B), character evidence is dealt with through the application of a specialized relevancy inquiry. Id. at 311. Only that evidence of other acts which is relevant for some reason other than showing action in conformity with character is admissible. While this Court has not interpreted Section 2404(B), other courts have found that this section permits testimony of other acts to show knowledge in civil cases. McCormick on Evidence, § 197 (4th Ed. 1992). For example, in United States v. O'Brien, 601 F.2d 1067 (9th Cir.1979), evidence was admitted under Section 404(B) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. [4] The evidence showed continued acceptance by the defendant of state and federal funds to which he was not entitled. The government introduced this evidence in a prosecution for making false statements to the Social Security Administration to rebut the defendant's claims of inadvertent mistake, and asserted that it showed the defendant's knowledge that he was making false statements. On appeal the Ninth Circuit upheld the trial court's decision to admit the evidence. In so holding the court stated that before evidence can be admitted under Rule 404(B), the court must weight its probative value against the potential prejudice. Id. at 1070; see also United States v. Bi-Co Pavers, Inc., 741 F.2d 730 (5th Cir.1984). In Gutierrez-Rodriguez v. Cartagena, 882 F.2d 553 (1st Cir.1989), the First Circuit was asked to resolve the question of whether evidence of prior complaints against a police officer were admissible during a trial in which the officer was sued for civil rights violations. The court relied on a two part test to make its decision: (1) was the evidence of prior bad acts introduced for a legitimate purpose, and (2) should it be suppressed because of substantial prejudice? The court held that the evidence was admissible not to show the tendencies of the defendant, but to show that his supervisors had knowledge of his poor performance record. See also In re Air Crash in Bali, 684 F.2d 1301 (9th Cir.1982) cert. denied 493 U.S. 917, 110 S.Ct. 277, 107 L.Ed.2d 258 (1989) (evidence of a pilot's prior poor flight record was admissible to show that the airline had notice of pilot's inabilities). [5] In this case Dacomed asserts that the evidence was introduced to show the doctor's knowledge of how to insert the device, how to determine whether it was correctly implanted and how to disguise any professional error. One of Dacomed's theories was that the failure of the OmniPhase was due to an incorrect implantation by Dr. Barnes. In the prior implantation Dacomed had requested, and Dr. Barnes had taken, x-rays of the prosthesis before removal. Dacomed's witness testified that it required such x-rays before removal or the warranty would not be honored. Those x-rays in the other case had revealed that one of the pieces of the prosthesis had been implanted upside down, and had caused the device to fail. In Tansy's case, Dr. Barnes failed to take x-rays before removal as requested by Dacomed. These x-rays would have shown whether the device was correctly implanted. Dacomed's introduction of the prior incident was argued to be relevant to show that Dr. Barnes knew Dacomed's procedure of requiring x-rays before removal of the device, and knew that if the device had been improperly implanted, failure to take x-rays would have eliminated evidence of such mistake. Dr. Barnes claimed that he did not take x-rays because after his examination of Tansy, he thought it was obvious that the cable had broken, and that immediate removal was necessary. He stated that he saw no need for the additional time or cost in taking an x-ray. When the implant was removed, Dr. Barnes' diagnosis of a broken cable proved to be correct. Under Gutierrez-Rodriguez, we first look to whether the admission of this evidence was for a legitimate purpose and showed something other than propensity. In our case this is a difficult and very close question. We conclude Dacomed had reason to seek admission of the evidence to show that Dr. Barnes was familiar with the procedures required by Dacomed for removal of the OmniPhase. The prior incident shows that Dr. Barnes had been faced with a problem with the OmniPhase before the incident with Tansy, and had been instructed to take x-rays of the device while it remained implanted. The Doctor's knowledge of Dacomed's requirements are thus relevant to this theory of Dacomed. The second part of the test is a balancing test very similar to that under Section 2403. [6] We must determine whether the probative value of the evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect. Our concern is that the evidence could have been improperly interpreted by the jury to show a propensity on the part of the doctor to implant these improperly, and to cover up such mistake. As the reviewing court, however, we will not overturn the trial court's ruling under Section 2403 unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. See Gabus v. Harvey, 678 P.2d 253. 256 (Okla. 1984); Jones v. Stemco Mfg. Co., 624 P.2d 1044 (1981). The evidence was relevant; there was also a risk of prejudice with regard to the jury. But we do not find an abuse of discretion in allowing the testimony. [7] There was no other evidence that this implantation by Dr. Barnes was incorrect, and the jury clearly observed that the device failed because a cable broke.