Court Opinion

ID: 9721762
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:08:21.654183+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:28.553298
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE WEBBER, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with my learned colleagues that no error occurred in the treatment of Dr. McMenamin’s testimony; however, I differ seriously with them on the matters concerning the cross-examination of Dr. Rumer and the rebuttal argument of plaintiff’s counsel. The handling of expert witnesses and their cross-examination may be summed up in the old adage, “Whose bread I eat, his song I sing.” One need only scan the professional journals to observe that experts are for hire in the market place on an almost illimitable number of “specialities.” In this era of complex technology and with a litigation explosion of geometric proportions, especially in the fields of products liability and malpractice, these persons are essential for the jury’s understanding of the subject matter of lawsuits. However, the corollary to this proposition is that they are hired partisans and in judging their testimony the jury is entitled to know whence they came. This is especially true when, as in the instant case, the duel of the experts is one-on-one. It would be a rare case today when the expert witness is the saintly country doctor or the kindly county surveyor, known to the whole community including the jury. It then follows that the widest latitude should be allowed in presenting anything, including relationships with the parties or their counsel, which might affect the credibility of the witness. I do not read Davis with quite the same aplomb as does the majority. A close inspection of that opinion reveals that much of what was said in it was irrelevant to the precise problem presented. Moreover, the text as set forth in the official reports (Davis v. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio R.R. Co. (1971), 130 Ill. App. 2d 988) is not the final one. The records in the office of the Clerk of the Fifth Appellate District show that the opinion was revised upon denial of rehearing and the revised opinion was filed June 22, 1971. The final version is correctly reported at 272 N.E.2d 240. In Davis the defendant in cross-examination sought to undermine the credibility of a medical witness by showing that he had referrals from plaintiff’s counsel. Ten individuals were apparently mentioned who either had had, or then had, suits against railroads and were represented by plaintiff’s counsel. In eight of the 10 the doctor remembered the patient or the patient’s name but did not know who had referred him, and in two cases did not remember the patient. In only one case out of seven did the doctor remember testifying against a railroad. In this state of the record “both counsel made reference to the fact that plaintiff’s attorney had sent the plaintiff to consult Dr. Deyton. There was no testimony of the witnesses to support this statement of both counsel.” (Emphasis added.) (272 N.E.2d 240, 243.) “Defendant offered no evidence to support the inference of bias which the specific inquiries raised by suggestion of counsel that each had been referred by plaintiff’s counsel.” 272 N.E .2d 240, 243-44. In lieu of headnote 1 in the Official Reports (130 Ill. App. 2d 988, 992) the following appears at 272 N.E.2d 240, 244-45: “In the present case the Doctor was not asked whether he testified only for plaintiffs on cross-examination, but stated that he had received referrals from plaintiffs’ counsel but could not state how many nor whether they could be described as frequent. The Doctor’s admission that he had received referrals from plaintiffs’ counsel raised an inference of bias, and it was the Doctor’s subsequent evasive answers concerning the frequency that allowed the court to exercise its discretion as to whether specific cases should be shown in this particular case. However, the evidence elicited did not support the suggestions that any of the 10 individual cases had been referred by plaintiff’s counsel, and defendant offered no evidence that any of those 10 had been referred by plaintiff’s counsel. In Chicago City Ry. Co. v. Smith, 226 Ill. 178 at page 187, 80 N.E. 716, at page 720, the Court stated: ‘Conceding appellants right of cross-examination to discover the motives, feelings and prejudices of a witness, still we are not inclined to hold that there was any error committed in refusing to allow the cross-examination to be extended to other cases having no connection with the case then being tried.’ In C. & E. I. Railroad v. Schmitz, 211 Ill. 446, 72 N.E. 150, the Court stated: ‘It was also sought by the Appellants to show by direct examination of certain witnesses that the physician in question was interested as a medical man in a large number of personal injury suits against corporations. This class of testimony the trial court refused to admit. Cross-examination upon independent cases of the same character, and about the same time as the principal case, is not allowed.’ From the authorities cited herein, we conclude that under ordinary circumstances, having shown the relationship between the Doctor and plaintiff’s counsel there is no proper basis for going into specific cases, and to do so would be reversible error, however, under the circumstances here present, permitting interrogation with respect to specific cases without the defendant then offering evidence of the relationship in those specific cases was error, but under the circumstances here present, not reversible error.” From these excerpts it is apparent that the real problem in Davis was not the legitimacy of the cross-examination which produced nothing of value, but the fact that argument was made based on assumptions not established in the record. The problem in the instant case is that defendant was prevented by the trial court from making a record. Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion in limine requesting that the trial court prohibit the plaintiff from offering the testimony of Dr. Burner, unless the doctor personally appeared at trial and produced the files of all the patients he had treated in the preceding four years on referral from plaintiff’s attorney. During a hearing on this motion, the defendant argued that she should be allowed to introduce evidence concerning the number and frequency of client referrals to Dr. Burner in order to question Dr. Burner’s credibility and show bias and interest on his part in testifying for the plaintiff who had also been referred to Dr. Burner by her counsel. The defendant noted that Dr. Burner would not be asked to disclose the names of his other patients or identify them in any way, but that the files were necessary for cross-examination about the frequency and number of referrals from plaintiff’s counsel. The court granted the defendant’s motion in limine in part and denied it in part. The trial court ruled that because of a prior stipulation between the parties, Dr. Burner had to testify in person rather than by evidence deposition. However, the trial court refused to require the doctor to produce records of other patients who had been referred to him by Mr. Mirza. In the opinion of the court, the doctor could be asked whether he had received other referrals from plaintiff’s attorney but he would not be asked about the number or frequency of those referrals. Defendant was thus denied an opportunity to lay the foundation for showing the bias of Dr. Burner. The motion was renewed at the close of Burner’s direct examination and again denied by the trial court, relying on Davis. As an offer of proof, defendant was compelled to use a deposition made by Burner who was singularly evasive on the subject. In my judgment Davis does not stand for the proposition that inquiry is forfended into a relationship between an expert witness and counsel; it stands only for the familiar doctrine that matters not in evidence cannot be argued to the jury. The Davis court appeared distracted in its gratuitous discussion of the former. The older authorities cited in Davis, i.e., Handy, McMahon, Plambeck, belong to an earlier, simpler age. They need reexamination. In my judgment the Michigan and Maryland cases mentioned in the principal opinion, Wilson and Ager, together with the statement of Cleary & Graham, indicate the modern rule. In Wilson it is said: “An expert witness’s experience testifying in court may influence the manner in which he or she testifies. The same is true for experience in evaluating cases which may come to court. It is thus proper to bring out on cross-examination the number of times a witness testifies in court, or is involved in particular types of cases. * * * A showing of a pattern of testimony for a particular attorney in past cases raises a possible inference that the witness has testified in such a manner that he would be hired in future cases.” 411 Mich. 587, 599-600, 309 N.W.2d 898, 902. To the same effect is a statement by the Ager court: “This Court has held on many occasions that evidence tending to establish possible interest, bias or prejudice on the part of a witness is admissible as an aid in testing the weight and credit to be afforded his testimony. A situation, almost identical to the one in this case, arose in the Supreme Court of Missouri in the case of Lammert v. Wells, 321 Mo. 952, 13 S.W.2d 547. That Court held that the evidence tended to show the relation existing between the witness and the attorney, and was proper for the consideration of the jury as showing possible interest or bias.” 213 Md. 414, 427-28,132 A.2d 469, 476-77. In my judgment the proper rule is that while some discretion must be left with the trial court in order to prevent abuse, that discretion is limited. The question should never be settled on a motion in limine. If doubt exists, an offer of proof should be taken from the witness himself. If the party seeking to impugn the testimony of the expert makes a prima facie showing of the relationship, he should then be permitted to present the matter to the jury under the usual and normal rules of cross-examination. The fact that this might be lengthy is no reason for denying the party his opportunity to attack the credibility of the expert. It is just one of the facts of modern legal life. The trial court in this case was in error on this issue and I would reverse for a new trial on that basis alone. As to the rebuttal argument, it is true that it did not rise to the level of the invective hurled by John Randolph against Henry Clay, “So brilliant, yet so corrupt, which, like a rotten mackerel by moonlight, shines and stinks.” Nonetheless, in my judgment it exceeded the bounds of propriety. K there is a dispute over the meaning of evidence or inferences to be drawn therefrom, that can be so stated without subtly, or otherwise, vilifying opposing counsel. Such conduct belongs to the days when court was a form of theater and I hope that those days died with the Scopes trial. I would reverse and remand for a new trial.