Court Opinion

ID: 9850336
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:55:37.944619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:35.614637
License: Public Domain

*287T. M. Burns, J.
(dissenting). I cannot fully agree with the majority’s treatment of the issue regarding the jury’s request to have the testimony of X-ray technician Twichell repeated. The majority states:
"Although Mr. Twichell’s testimony as to what he himself routinely did was perhaps admissible because it was based on his own personal knowledge and observations, it was not admissible to establish the standard of care to which Dr. Bergeon was bound.”
As I view the problem, the majority has not dealt with the real question presented.
Twichell testified without objection:
"Q. Do you ever remember taking an X-ray of Mr. Stanek’s arm after the cast was applied and before February 12th, 1973?
"A. Yes, I did.
"Q. Do you know where that is?
"A. What?
"Q. Is that X-ray here?
"A. I don’t know. I — I don’t know. I saw one with a cast on the 12th.
"Q. No, I mean did you ever take an X-ray of Mr. Stanek’s arm after the cast was applied on 2-10-73?
"A. Oh, oh, okay.
"Q. And before February 12th, 1973?
"A. Oh. Routinely, but I really — routinely this is done, but I don’t remember on his case at all. Routinely this is done. I don’t remember there for sure.”
After the jury had begun its deliberation, it requested that certain testimony be reread, including what Twichell had said regarding the normal procedure of taking post-casting X-rays. Plaintiffs counsel opposed rereading any testimony. I would agree that had the trial court merely refused to *288have the testimony reread, there would have been no error; indeed, that was plaintiffs position. But, the court went further and instructed the jury:
"I instruct you that Mr. Twichell was not qualified as an expert to render an opinion as to what is normal procedure in relation to taking post-casting X-rays. And, so, I will not comply with your request because he is an X-ray technician, he is not one who a foundation was laid that would demonstrate that he has the qualifications of an expert to say what the, quote, 'normal procedure’, unquote is in relation to post-casting X-rays. We don’t know how many broken arm cases he took pictures of. We don’t know what his total experience is, you see. What may be a procedure in an area that he worked in in one hospital may or may not be a procedure in another, I don’t know. But, I tell you that the Court will not comply with your request because this witness was not qualified to render that opinion and you would have no right to rely upon his opinion as to what is, quote, 'normal procedure of taking post-casting X-rays’, unquote.”
This instruction was erroneous, not in what it said, but in the confusion it would unavoidably cause in the jurors’ minds.
Twichell was not an expert. But, the testimony he gave required no expertise. He was only relating what he routinely did. He was certainly competent to testify to these facts. He was never asked and he never indicated an opinion that failure to order post-casting X-rays violated the physician’s standard of care. The question to which this testimony was relevant was whether X-rays were taken, not whether the failure to take them was malpractice.
Somehow, what had been offered as fact testimony became opinion testimony in the minds of the defendants and the trial court. By striking the *289testimony, at the state of proceedings at which it did, the trial court undoubtedly caused some confusion among the jurors on specifically this point.
I would reverse and remand for a new trial.