Opinion ID: 430550
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Limitation of Cross-examination on Issue of Termination of SSI Payments.

Text: 28 Plaintiff called Dr. Clifford Whipple, a psychologist, as an expert witness. Dr. Whipple had examined Warren Vanskike on six separate occasions: three times in 1979, in November, 1981, and on July 8 and July 20, 1982. The controversy arises out of interview notes made by Dr. Whipple during his July 8, 1982, interview with Warren. 29 Dr. Whipple testified on direct examination that Warren was suffering disabling post-traumatic stress disorder and was unemployable. Dr. Whipple stated that, in his opinion, Warren's lowered self-esteem, depression and psychological problems were directly caused by Warren's loss of his dominant arm. He further testified that in his professional opinion, Warren suffered sufficient depression to be a real suicidal risk at the time of the 1979 examinations. 6 30 Warren was notified in October, 1981, that his Social Security (SSI) payments would be terminated on January 1, 1982. 7 Therefore, Dr. Whipple's post-1979 evaluations of Warren all occurred after notification of the cut or during the time period in which Warren's benefits were not being paid. At the July 8, 1982, examination, Dr. Whipple recorded the following in his interview notes: 31 Hearing on Social Security will be held Friday, July 9th. Feels got the shaft for Social Security. Cannot understand why he was cut off. Don't think it was fair. Really got depressed when Social Security cut. This was my main--only source of income for me! I had no income to support my family--could not live on what wife made. 32 Prior to trial, the district court had granted plaintiff's motion in limine to suppress testimony concerning social security and collateral source payments and further to suppress all evidence that in December, 1981, the Social Security Administration had terminated Warren Vanskike's SSI benefits. Plaintiff's counsel instructed Dr. Whipple on the substance of the motion in limine. 33 Following Dr. Whipple's direct testimony, defendants made an offer of proof concerning cross-examination of Dr. Whipple on the notes he had made during the July 8th interview. Defendants' offer was made for the purpose of impeaching Dr. Whipple's testimony by prior inconsistent testimony and to establish the causation of Warren's depression. 8 In their offer of proof, defendants offered no testimony as to what Dr. Whipple would say if questioned about the effects of the cut in SSI payments on Warren's depression. Plaintiff's attorney, however, stated on the record that the expert's testimony on the causation of Warren's depression would not change and that Dr. Whipple did not consider the SSI cut greatly significant. 34 Consistent with its ruling on the motion in limine, the trial court denied defendants' offer of proof and ruled that cross-examination on the issue of termination of SSI benefits was inadmissible. We affirm the trial court's ruling. 35 Prior to the first Vanskike trial, plaintiffs had filed a motion in limine to suppress all evidence of disability payments. The district court granted the motion and stated that defendants could not introduce evidence of collateral source payments because, even if relevant, the probative value would be outweighed by the prejudice which would result. Defendants appealed. This court upheld the trial court's ruling based on the strict evidentiary standard in FELA cases set out in Eichel v. New York Central RR, 375 U.S. 253, 84 S.Ct. 316, 11 L.Ed.2d 307 (1963) (per curiam). 36 In Eichel, defendant sought to introduce evidence of payment of a disability benefit to impeach the testimony of the plaintiff as to his motive for not returning to work and as to the permanence of his injuries. The district court excluded the evidence and the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed. The Supreme Court balanced the probative value of the evidence against the danger of undue prejudice and concluded that the likelihood of misuse by the jury clearly outweighs the value of this evidence. Id. at 255, 84 S.Ct. at 317. Various circuit courts have applied Eichel and held that the discretion normally available to admit all relevant evidence of collateral benefits is greatly limited in FELA cases. Sheehy v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 631 F.2d 649 (9th Cir.1980). 37 This court applied the holding in Eichel to the facts of this FELA case and held in the first appeal that (N)ot only were the collateral source payments inadmissible per se, but also the district court's rulings were correct on the basis of relevancy. Vanskike v. ACF Industries, Inc., 665 F.2d 188, 200 (8th Cir.1981). 38 The evidence sought to be introduced at the second trial did not differ substantially from the evidence sought to be introduced at the first. The trial court did not commit reversible error in limiting the cross-examination of Dr. Whipple, plaintiff's psychologist, on the matter of termination of plaintiff's SSI benefits. See Fed.R.Evid. 403. 39