Opinion ID: 472146
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Schepers' Availability

Text: 14 In each of the cases cited above, including Wilmington Trust, the witness was either clearly available for further explanation or the court assumed that the witness could be recalled without extensive discussion of the availability issue. Although National Gypsum urges that likewise Dr. Schepers was available for recall and that the appellee simply failed to do so, we disagree. Having reviewed the record, we are persuaded that the district court implicitly found to the contrary and that finding was not erroneous. 15 In deciding whether to admit the prior inconsistent statements, the lower court clearly focused on the availability of the doctor as crucial to its inquiry. The court offered alternatives such as a telephone deposition, which never came to fruition. Furthermore, appellee's counsel represented to the court that the witness's whereabouts were not known subsequent to his appearance, a representation that the lower court apparently found credible in light of the witness's Virginia residence. In short, although the district court did not make a specific factual finding that the doctor was no longer available, its deliberations were clearly premised upon that finding. The lower court was in a superior vantage point to make such a determination, and we are not inclined to reach a contrary conclusion on this record. 16 This case differs, therefore, from each of the cases relied upon by the appellant in that here we are faced with the situation of an unavailable witness. The parties have not cited any case authority addressing the precise issue that results from that conclusion--review of a district court's discretion under Rule 613(b) to exclude prior inconsistent statements in the interests of justice where the witness is now unavailable. 4 17