Opinion ID: 2571646
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: We remand to the trial court to determine whether the error was harmless.

Text: The circumstances that convinced the trial court that the disputed evidence was relevant and not redundant or speculative preclude us from saying as a matter of law that the error of allowing the testimony was harmless. Dr. Borden's testimony was important evidence bearing on liability. It was offered by a treating physician who was also a defendant and whose credibility and candor may have been critical to the jury trying to decide whether he breached the applicable standard of care. He described the quality of his care favorably, apparently applying the knowledge he acquired after his deposition. This permitted him to address the medical issues in a light most favorable to himself and to increase his stature as a witness. The effect of this error is not clear. We consequently asked the parties for supplemental briefing on how the testimony affected the case against each defendant physician. The estate argues that the error was not harmless because the jury could have relied on Dr. Borden's testimony to decide that Dr. Borden's treatment was not negligent. The estate also contends that because Dr. Borden testified that Margaret Zaverl's overall treatment was not substandard, the jury could have relied on Dr. Borden's testimony to absolve Dr. Hanley of liability. Dr. Borden's supplemental response is two-fold: the jury was not misled, because he admitted that he did not have knowledge of these fistulae when he treated Margaret Zaverl; and his testimony about the standard of care only echoed the testimony of his expert witness, Dr. Joseph Stapleton Coselli. Dr. Borden implies that because the estate's attorney was prepared to cross-examine Dr. Coselli, the estate's attorney also must have been prepared to cross-examine Dr. Borden. Further, Dr. Borden asserts that the jury could have found and was encouraged to find an absence of negligence in reliance on Dr. Coselli's testimony, without considering Dr. Borden's testimony on the standard of care. Dr. Borden also contends that his own testimony was relevant because he was the only witness who could discuss what he knew when he treated Margaret Zaverl and that his testimony was not speculative because he spoke from his own knowledge. He also argues that the estate was not prejudiced by the testimony because the estate's lawyer was given wide latitude to examine Dr. Borden on exactly when he acquired his knowledge and could easily emphasize to the jury that Dr. Borden did not have this knowledge when he treated Margaret Zaverl. Finally, Dr. Borden concludes that the testimony only affected himself, not Dr. Hanley, and that even if the testimony had been excluded, there was more than enough evidence regarding the relevant standard of care to support the jury's verdict. Dr. Hanley simply argues that he was not affected by Dr. Borden's testimony because the jury was instructed that Dr. Hanley was to be held to a distinct standard of care and because he had his own experts to establish that standard. He consequently asserts that he did not rely on Dr. Borden's testimony at all. We cannot say, even after the supplemental briefing, that the error was harmless. We therefore remand to the trial court to determine the effect of admitting the disputed testimony. Having heard the evidence admitted at trial, the trial court is in the best position to consider the effect of Dr. Borden's disputed trial opinions in the context of the other evidence, those deposition passages submitted to the jury, the opinions of other experts, and other trial events, including the parties' arguments to the jury. Remand will give the parties the best opportunity to explore whether the error prejudiced the estate's claims against either defendant or was harmless. This may be a fact-intensive inquiry that requires more flexibility than the appellate forum permits. It may depend on the tactics the parties employed at trial.