Opinion ID: 1153134
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The district court's refusal to allow Morris to question her own witness, Dr. Watkins, regarding prior statements the witness made concerning her opinion as to the timing of Jessie's injuries.

Text: During Morris' direct examination of Dr. Watkins, counsel repeatedly used the term birth asphyxia. Defense counsel apparently feared that the jury would construe this term to mean that Dr. Watkins was opining that the injuries occurred during the birthing process. Consequently, in his cross-examination, defendant attempted to clarify whether Dr. Watkins was offering an opinion as to the timing of Jessie's injuries, and Dr. Watkins asserted that she had no opinion as to the timing of the events leading to Jessie's condition. In her redirect, Morris attempted to show that Dr. Watkins did indeed have such an opinion and that the doctor had expressed that opinion to plaintiff's counsel during a prior conversation. The defense objected, and the court sustained the objection, apparently on the ground that plaintiff had not called Dr. Watkins as an expert qualified to render such an opinion. We do not address this issue because Morris has not preserved it for appeal. I.R.E. 103(a)(2) provides that a party can only assert error on the part of the trial court in excluding evidence where the party made an offer of proof at trial describing the substance of the evidence sought to be admitted. Plaintiff, however, did not make an offer of proof regarding the testimony she intended to elicit from Dr. Watkins on redirect, and we thus do not have any basis on which to rule.