Court Opinion

ID: 9773147
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:38:23.95588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:50.396035
License: Public Domain

CANTRELL, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the opinion of the majority.
It is my opinion that the statements of the jury foreman were both extraneous and prejudicial. The affidavits of the other jurors are, therefore, admissible and the cause should be remanded for a new trial.
The plaintiff’s theory for the recovery of damages for the injuries to Mr. Caldararo was that the attending nurses negligently delayed efforts to resuscitate Mr. Caldara-ro because they thought he was suffering from a problem related to his diabetes. Eyewitnesses testified that the nurses reacted to Mr. Caldararo’s symptoms by obtaining chemstrips and lance sets with which to check the patient’s blood glucose level.
*745The information injected into the jury deliberations by the foreman tended to negate the plaintiff’s theory. Mr. Hicks told the other jurors that there was a simple test the nurses would have employed if they thought Mr. Caldararo was suffering from a diabetic condition: they would have checked his breath for a cucumber-like smell and in the process would have discovered that he was not breathing. Therefore, resuscitative efforts would have begun immediately even if the nurses had been mistaken about the source of the patient’s distress.
I do not see how we could call that type of information generalized knowledge. In my opinion it amounts to unsworn expert testimony.
I would then adopt the objective test suggested by some of the Federal courts, see United States v. Brooks, 677 F.2d 907 (D.C.Cir.1982), and in our prior unpublished opinion of Michetti v. Arrowsmith (Tenn.Ct.App., filed in Nashville, Aug. 30, 1989). The question then becomes one for the court to answer: Would a reasonable juror be prejudiced or influenced by the extraneous evidence?
In this case, I would decide the issue in favor of the plaintiff and remand the case for a new trial.