Opinion ID: 2570398
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: 75 Whether Dr. David Southall's testimony was properly admitted.

Text: ś 76 The determination of whether proposed testimony is admissible as rebuttal testimony in any given case is within the sound discretion of the District Court, and we will not reverse the District Court's ruling unless it abused this discretion. See Massman v. City of Helena (1989), 237 Mont. 234, 243, 773 P.2d 1206, 1211. The determination of good cause for departing from the usual order of trial and permitting the State to reopen its case-in-chief is left to the sound discretion of the district court. See State v. Snaric (1993), 262 Mont. 62, 69, 862 P.2d 1175, 1179 (citation omitted). ś 77 Susan presented a motion in limine concerning the scope of the expected rebuttal testimony of Dr. David Southall, a Professor of Pediatrics from the United Kingdom. She argued that Southall's testimony should be limited to an interpretation of the apnea monitor recordings. The District Court ruled that Southall would be permitted to testify regarding any matters to which the defense experts testified, but that his testimony should be limited to matters of record at that time or matters contained within the medical records to which the defense experts referred. The court further ruled that, to the extent Southall's testimony might exceed the scope of rebuttal, it would be allowed pursuant to § 46-16-401(3), MCA. [4] ś 78 In her motion for a new trial, Susan asked the District Court to reconsider this ruling and the court held that Susan was neither surprised nor prejudiced by its allowing Southall's rebuttal testimony. The court noted that it allowed Southall's testimony in response to the defense's expert witnesses. In the alternative, it allowed Southall's testimony as part of the State's case-in-chief. The court noted that the State had given notice that Southall, who had to travel from the U.K., would not be available early in the trial and that the court had indicated that the defense would be allowed to call other witnesses to address the issues brought up by Southall's testimony. ś 79 Susan alleges that Southall's rebuttal testimony should have been excluded on the bases that it constituted unfair surprise and that it was not based on a new matter first raised by the defense, but on primary allegations raised by the State in its case-in-chief. While portions of Southall's testimony may have been outside the proper scope of rebuttal testimony, the District Court specifically noted that to the extent that [Southall's testimony] might exceed the scope of rebuttal, that would be due to the inability to get Doctor Southall here earlier. The Court will allow that under XX-XX-XXX(3). ś 80 Susan contends that no good cause existed to allow the prosecution to offer evidence upon its original case pursuant to § 46-16-402, MCA. She states that Southall was not contacted by the State until approximately a week or two prior to the trial, and defense counsel was first notified approximately ten to fourteen days before the trial that Southall may be called as a witness. Susan argues that the State offered no explanation as to why Southall was not contacted earlier and that therefore Southall's unavailability during the State's case-in-chief was attributable to the State's lack of diligence. ś 81 The District Court, in exercising its sound discretion whether to depart from the usual order of trial and permit the State to reopen its case-in-chief, concluded that [t]he State had given notice early that Dr. Southall, who had to travel from England, would not be available early in the trial. The Court indicated early on that it would allow Dr. Southall's testimony and allowed the defense to call other witnesses to address the issues brought up by Dr. Southall. Susan's contention that no good cause existed to depart from the usual order of trial is not supported by the record. In State v. White (1980), 185 Mont. 213, 217, 605 P.2d 191, 193, this Court found good cause to depart from the usual order of trial when the State had difficulty in locating the witness, even though that difficulty may have been caused in part by the State's failure to subpoena the witness prior to trial. There, we held that good cause existed because the State kept the trial court and the defendant informed of its difficulty in locating the witness and of its intention to call the witness when he was located. We also noted that, in permitting the State to reopen its case, the trial court gave the defendant full opportunity to rebut the witness' testimony. White, 185 Mont. at 217, 605 P.2d at 193. ś 82 Likewise here, even if Southall's unavailability early in the trial may be in part attributable to the State not contacting him earlier, the State kept the trial court and the defendant informed that Southall would not be available until the end of the trial. The trial court informed Susan early on that it would allow Southall's testimony and that it would allow the defense to call other witnesses to address the issues brought up by Southall's testimony. ś 83 The District Court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Southall's testimony.