Hall Ex Rel. Hall v. Daee

570 So. 2d 296
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Hall Ex Rel. Hall v. Daee. Read the opinion of the Court — 1990 Fla. App. LEXIS 2605
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided November 20, 1990·No. 88-1628·Published

Opinion

570 So.2d 296 (1990)

Ebony HALL, by and through Her Parents and Natural Guardians, James HALL and Emily Hall, and James Hall and Emily Hall, Individually, Appellants,
v.
Hosain DAEE, M.D., Hosain Daee, M.D., P.A., Raul Hernandez, M.D., City of Homestead, D/B/a James Archer Smith Hospital, and the Florida Patients Compensation Fund, Appellees.

No. 88-1628.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

April 17, 1990.
On Motion for Rehearing, Clarification and Certification November 20, 1990.

Stanley M. Rosenblatt, and Daniel K. Bandklayder, Miami, for appellants.

Stephens, Lynn, Klein & McNicholas, and Debra J. Snow, Miami, for appellees Hosain Daee, M.D., and Hosain Daee, M.D., P.A.

Kubicki, Bradley, Draper, Gallagher & McGrane, and Betsy Gallagher, Miami, for appellee City of Homestead, d/b/a James Archer Smith Hosp.

Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick & Strickroot, and Henry Burnett, and Steven E. Stark, Miami, for appellee Raul Hernandez, M.D.

Joe N. Unger, Miami, for appellee The Florida Patients Compensation Fund.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GERSTEN and GODERICH, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. Woods v. State, 490 So.2d 24 (Fla.), cert denied, 479 U.S. 954, 107 S.Ct. 446, 93 L.Ed.2d 394 (1986); Moore v. Morris, 475 So.2d 666 (Fla. 1985); South Florida Beverage Corporation v. San Pedro, 499 So.2d 915 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Meli v. Dade County School Board, 490 So.2d 120 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 500 So.2d 543 (Fla. 1986); Del Monte Banana Company v. Chacon, 466 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Tilley v. Broward Hospital District, 458 So.2d 817 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Morganstine v. Rosomoff, 407 So.2d 941 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); § 90.403, Fla. Stat. (1989).

GERSTEN and GODERICH, JJ., concur.

*297 SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge (dissenting).

This is a malpractice case arising out of defects sustained by the minor plaintiff during childbirth.

I

I would reverse the defendants' judgment entered below for a new trial on all issues because I believe that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to hold that the defendants' peremptory excusal of five of six sitting black jurors "demonstrate[d] ... that there [was] a strong likelihood that they [were] challenged solely because of their race," so as to cross the threshold erected by State v. Neil, 457 So.2d 481, 486 (Fla. 1984), and require a neutral non-biased explanation for the challenges. Bryant v. State, 1990 WL 40364 (Fla. Case nos. 71,356, 71,357, 71,258, 71,355, opinion filed, March 29, 1990) [15 FLW S179]; Thompson v. State, 548 So.2d 198 (Fla. 1989); City of Miami v. Cornett, 463 So.2d 399 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).

II

Quite apart from this, I also believe that the judgment entered in favor of Dr. Daee, based upon the jury finding that the statute of limitations had run as to him, should be set aside and a new trial ordered on that question alone. In my view, the trial court reversibly erred in two respects concerning this issue:

(a) The trial judge instructed the jury that the statute begins to run when a malpractice plaintiff is or should be aware either of the incident or the injury in question. In my view, this statement was clearly contrary to the law which requires knowledge of both the incident and the injury to trigger the limitations period. Elliot v. Barrow, 526 So.2d 989 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 536 So.2d 244 (Fla. 1988); Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Sitomer, 524 So.2d 671 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), review dismissed, 531 So.2d 1353 (Fla. 1988), quashed on other grounds sub nom. Smith v. Sitomes, 550 So.2d 461 (Fla. 1989); Schafer v. Lehrer, 476 So.2d 781 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). See generally Jackson v. Georgopolous, 552 So.2d 215 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (Lehan, J., concurring specially). The court should have instead instructed the jury, as the plaintiffs requested, in accordance with the charge specifically approved in Sitomer, which was directly contrary to the one actually given.

(b) In this connection, the court should not have excluded evidence that the child's mother, believing that her child's injuries had been caused by a congenital problem in her which might recur, rather than the malpractice of the present appellees, aborted a subsequent pregnancy. This testimony was obviously persuasively significant as to whether she actually knew or should have known the actual cause of the first child's injuries and was thus directly relevant to the limitations issue. Since all relevant testimony is presumptively admissible, Fla.Evidence Code § 90.402, and I see no foundation for the claim that there was any prejudicial impact to this testimony, much less one which would overcome its probative value, compare Perper v. Edell, 44 So.2d 78 (Fla. 1949), I would find error on this ground as well.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL, HUBBART, NESBITT, BASKIN, FERGUSON, JORGENSON, COPE, LEVY, GERSTEN and GODERICH., JJ.

OPINION ON MOTIONS FOR REHEARING, CLARIFICATION, AND

CERTIFICATION

Appellants, plaintiffs below, move for rehearing, clarification, and certification of this court's majority opinion affirming the judgments of the trial court in favor of the appellees, defendants below. Hall v. Daee, 570 So.2d 296 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). We deny plaintiffs' motions for rehearing and clarification, but grant their motion for certification solely with respect to the issue concerning jury selection.

The facts relevant to this one issue are briefly stated. Plaintiffs, James and Emily Hall, the parents of Ebony Hall, brought suit against Dr. Hosain Daee, Dr. Raul Hernandez, and James Archer Smith Hospital, for malpractice for injuries their daughter allegedly sustained at birth.

During voir dire, the trial court allowed the three defendants to pool their peremptory *298 challenges. Of the thirty-five veniremembers, six were black; five of those six were reached in voir dire. Four of those five were the subjects of defendants' peremptory challenges.

Dr. Hernandez exercised a peremptory challenge on one black potential juror, James Archer Smith Hospital exercised a peremptory challenge on another black potential juror, and Dr. Daee exercised a peremptory challenge on two black potential jurors. Three of the four stricken black panel members had close ties to the medical community. One black panel member served on the jury; one served as an alternate juror. When the plaintiffs, who are black, objected to defense counsels' striking of the four black potential jurors, claiming the strikes were being exercised in a racially discriminatory manner, the trial court carefully considered plaintiffs' motion and determined that there was no need to inquire as to the defendants' reasons for the strikes.

The plaintiffs argue that the final judgment must be reversed and a new trial ordered, where the trial court failed to conduct an inquiry as to why the defendants struck four out of five black veniremembers. The plaintiffs claim that this panel's majority decision does not conform to State v. Neil, 457 So.2d 481 (Fla. 1984), and its progeny. We do not agree.

We conclude the trial court's decision not to conduct an inquiry into the basis for defendants' exercise of their peremptory challenges did not constitute an abuse of discretion. Pursuant to Neil, a trial court inquiry is required only

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