Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd. v. McShane

239 S.W.3d 231, 50 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 866, 2007 Tex. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 1650767
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJune 8, 2007
Docket05-1069
StatusPublished
Cited by409 cases

This text of 239 S.W.3d 231 (Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd. v. McShane) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd. v. McShane, 239 S.W.3d 231, 50 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 866, 2007 Tex. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 1650767 (Tex. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this medical malpractice case, Deborah Sue McShane and James Patrick McShane, individually and as next friends of their daughter, Maggie Yvonne McShane, sued Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd., Columbia Hospital Corporation of Bay Area, and South Texas Surgi-care, Inc. (collectively, “Bay Area”) to recover for injuries that Maggie allegedly sustained during her birth at a Bay Area Healthcare Group hospital. After a jury found in the hospital’s favor, the trial court signed a take-nothing judgment. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that two doctors involved in the incident were originally sued by the plaintiffs, but were nonsuited before trial. 174 S.W.3d 908, 912. Bay Area presents several issues on appeal: (1) whether the court of appeals misapplied the Texas Rules of Evidence regarding the admissibility of information in superseded pleadings; (2) whether the court of appeals incorrectly concluded that the error was harmful; and (3) whether the court of appeals misapplied Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 44.1. We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting information from the superseded pleadings. Because that issue is disposi-tive, we do not reach Bay Area’s remaining complaints.

By cross-point, the McShanes complain that the trial court allowed an improper impeachment of their expert witness. We hold that the McShanes did not preserve this issue for appellate review and do not reach its merits.

In 1999, Deborah Sue McShane gave birth to Maggie Yvonne McShane. Maggie allegedly sustained injuries during the delivery that left her with brain damage and other physical complications. Deborah and James McShane sued Bay Area and two doctors, Dr. Rothschild and Dr. Eubank, but nonsuited the doctors before trial. The McShanes filed a motion in limine to prevent Bay Area from introducing into evidence the superseded pleadings that listed Rothschild and Eubank as defendants. The trial court denied that motion. At trial, neither party attempted to introduce the superseded pleadings into evidence, but attorneys for both sides discussed Rothschild and Eubank’s status during voir dire, 1 and witnesses testified over objection that the McShanes had previously sued Rothschild and Eubank. 2

*234 After a three-week trial, the jury returned a 10-2 verdict in Bay Area’s favor, and the trial court signed a take-nothing judgment. A divided court of appeals reversed and remanded, concluding that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence that the McShanes had, at one point, sued the two physicians. 174 S.W.3d at 912. The dissent would have held that the complained-of evidence was merely cumulative and the McShanes had not shown reversible error. Id. at 924 (Castillo, J., dissenting).

The first issue is whether statements from the superseded pleadings were admissible at trial. Evidentiary rulings are committed to the trial court’s sound discretion. Interstate Northborough P’ship v. State, 66 S.W.3d 213, 220 (Tex.2001); City of Brownsville v. Alvarado, 897 S.W.2d 750, 753 (Tex.1995). Even if a trial court errs by improperly admitting evidence, reversal is warranted only if the error probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment. TEX. R. APP. P. 61.1(a); Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. v. Armstrong, 145 S.W.3d 131, 144 (Tex.2004); Owens-Coming Fiberglas Corp. v. Malone, 972 S.W.2d 35, 43 (Tex.1998). We review the entire record and require the complaining party to demonstrate that the judgment turns on the particular evidence admitted. Nissan Motor, 145 S.W.3d at 144.

Statements from pleadings, depending on their content, could potentially be excluded as irrelevant or unfairly prejudicial. See Tex.R. Evid. 402, 403. The McShanes, however, cannot make this complaint here because their attorney was the first to allude to the doctors’ party status by telling the jury panel that a doctor’s conduct “could have been brought before this Court in this trial” but “both sides have not done that at this trial.” See McInnes v. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., 673 S.W.2d 185, 188 (Tex.1984) (plaintiffs counsel opened door to plaintiffs alcohol consumption by discussing it during opening statements, thus preventing plaintiffs from complaining on appeal of similar evidence later introduced by the defendant); see also W. Jeremy Counseller & Charles D. Brown, Handboor of Texas Evidence § 401.03 (2005) (“A party can make otherwise irrelevant evidence relevant by injecting collateral issues into a lawsuit. This is called ‘opening the door.’ Once a party opens the door ... the opposing party may offer rebuttal evidence on the collateral issue.” (citations omitted)). Moreover, testimony is not inadmissible on the sole ground that it is “prejudicial” because in our adversarial system, much of a proponent’s evidence is legitimately intended to wound the opponent. Here, however, we conclude that the information’s probative value is not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

*235 The Rules of Evidence govern admissibility of evidence in court proceedings. Tex.R. Evid. 101(b). Bay Area introduced statements from superseded pleadings indicating that the McShanes sued Rothschild and Eubank. Normally, out-of-court statements are excluded as hearsay. Id. 801(d) (hearsay is a “statement, other than one made by the declar-ant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted”). But because the McShanes made the statements, they are considered admissions by a party-opponent and are not hearsay. Id. 801(e)(2) (“A statement is not hearsay if ... [t]he statement is offered against a party and is ... the party’s own statement....”). Rule 801(e)(2) is straightforward: subject to other Rules of Evidence that may limit admissibility, 3 any statement by a party-opponent is admissible against that party. Id.

Thus, the court of appeals erred in concluding that statements from the pleadings would only be admissible if they contained “some statement relevant to a material issue in the case” that is “inconsistent with the position taken by the party against whom it is introduced.” 174 S.W.Sd at 920. Before the Rules of Evidence were promulgated, our cases required an inconsistency between the superseded pleading and the party’s position at trial. See Hartford Accident and Indent. Co. v. McCardell, 369 S.W.2d 331

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Bluebook (online)
239 S.W.3d 231, 50 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 866, 2007 Tex. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 1650767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bay-area-healthcare-group-ltd-v-mcshane-tex-2007.