Opinion ID: 484310
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Court's Refusal to Recall Dr. Sharma

Text: 47 Dr. Sharma testified and was excused. Thereafter, Heath's counsel claimed he learned of the existence of Dr. Sharma's initial medical report only after Sharma had completed his testimony. He requested permission to recall Dr. Sharma so that Sharma could be cross-examined on his initial report. The district court refused to permit Heath to recall Sharma. The court found that Heath's counsel must have been aware of the existence of Sharma's initial report during the discovery phase of the litigation and rejected Heath's claim of surprise. Heath's counsel was then permitted to read into the record, before the jury, a paragraph from Dr. Sharma's report which Heath contended impeached Sharma. 48 The defense may have disobeyed a discovery order in failing to turn over Sharma's initial report earlier, but the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit Heath to recall Sharma. Since Heath had adequate notice of the existence of the initial Sharma report during the discovery phase of the litigation, he could have moved to compel its production and neglected to do so. See Peraza v. Delameter, 722 F.2d 1455, 1456 (9th Cir.1984). 49