Mottershaw v. Ledbetter

148 So. 3d 45, 2013 WL 5966785
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedNovember 8, 2013
Docket1110959 and 1110962
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 148 So. 3d 45 (Mottershaw v. Ledbetter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mottershaw v. Ledbetter, 148 So. 3d 45, 2013 WL 5966785 (Ala. 2013).

Opinion

BRYAN, Justice.

Dr. Ann M. Mottershaw and The Radiology Group, LLC, appeal separately from the trial court’s order granting a motion for a new trial filed by the plaintiff, Shannon Ledbetter, as administrator of the estate of Venoria Womack, deceased. These appeals primarily concern whether the trial court exceeded its discretion in ordering a new trial based on the jury’s exposure to certain evidence that the trial court had excluded by an order granting a motion in limine.

On May 11, 2007, Womack underwent a CT scan of her sinuses. Dr. Mottershaw, a radiologist employed by The Radiology Group, read the CT scan. Evidence at trial indicated that Dr. Mottershaw, in reading the CT scan, failed to detect a cancerous mass in Womack’s sinuses. Two weeks later, on May 25, 2007, Wom-ack underwent another CT scan. The radiologists who read that scan also failed to detect the mass in Womack’s sinuses. Unlike Dr. Mottershaw, those radiologists were not employees of The Radiology Group. A few months later, on August 6, 2007, Womack underwent an MRI of her head. The radiologist who read the MRI detected the cancer in Womack’s sinuses. Womack subsequently underwent treatment for her cancer at Shands Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida. However, on March 6, 2008, Womack died.

In April 2009, Ledbetter, as administrator of Womack’s estate, sued various health-care providers, alleging medical malpractice and wrongful death. The complaint alleged that the defendants breached the applicable standard of care by failing to timely diagnose Womack’s cancer. Among the defendants were Dr. Mottershaw and her employer, The Radiology Group. Eventually, all the defendants except Dr. Mottershaw and The Radiology Group were dismissed.

On September 6, 2011, Ledbetter filed a motion in limine seeking, among other things, to prevent reference to or presentation of any evidence indicating “[t]hat other health care providers [besides Dr. Mottershaw and The Radiology Group] allegedly failed to detect Venoria Womack’s nasopharyngeal cancer.” The trial court granted the motion in limine insofar as it requested that restriction, among other restrictions not relevant here.

On October 3, 2011, the case against Dr. Mottershaw and The Radiology Group proceeded to trial. During opening statements, Dr. Mottershaw’s attorney noted that Dr. Mottershaw had read the CT scan of May 11, 2007. Dr. Mottershaw’s attorney then stated that “[t]wo weeks later there was another set of images done.” At that point, Ledbetter’s attorney asked to approach the bench and an off-the-record discussion was held. During the trial, Dr. Mottershaw’s attorney asked Dr. Kendall Jones, who provided expert testimony for Ledbetter:

“Q. Now, you got not only the May 11 images that we have talked about that were done by Dr. Mottershaw, but you also got other images from [Ledbetter’s] lawyer, right?
[48]*48“A. Yes.
“Q. And you got a study that was done two weeks later. May 25, right?”

At that point, Ledbetter’s attorney asked to approach the bench, and the following discussion occurred outside the presence of the jury:

“MRS. TAYLOR [Ledbetter’s attorney]: Your Honor, that reference to the May 25 [scan] is strictly in opposition to Your Honor’s order on motion in limine. He has been instructed not to mention May 25 studies.
“He was instructed in the order on motion in limine, initially. He was instructed in the middle of opening statement. And here we go again. And we don’t know what to say other than it’s in blatant violation.
“MR. HINTON [Dr. Mottershaw’s attorney]: Well, Judge, I don’t recall being told don’t talk about May 25.
[[Image here]]
“THE COURT: I ruled that the May 25th stuff doesn’t come in.
“MR. HINTON: Nothing about May 25 comes in?
“THE COURT: No.
“MR. HINTON: My case is completely gutted.
“THE COURT: ... [Y]our case is about whether there was malpractice committed when [Dr. Mottershaw] missed the stuff on ... May 11th.
[[Image here]]
“THE COURT: ... The [May] 25th study gets in to accusing another doctor of missing something. That’s not what we are here for.
[[Image here]]
“THE COURT: ... The 25th is out, again.”

Later at trial, Dr. Mottershaw submitted a copy of Womack’s medical records from Shands Medical Center, which was labeled as Defendant’s Exhibit 7. Defendant’s Exhibit 7, which was admitted without objection, contained information about the May 25 CT scan. Specifically, the records stated, in pertinent part:

“05/25/2007: She underwent a CT of the head at an outside facility. The report is unavailable for review, but on review of the actual images, there is a mass in the right nasopharynx. The neck was not imaged.
[[Image here]]
“IMAGING REVIEW: Dr. [Jeffrey] Bennett reviewed an outside CT dated 05/25/2007. This shows a mass in the central nasopharynx and a large positive right retropharyngeal lymph node.”

After Defendant’s Exhibit 7 was admitted, Ledbetter’s attorney reminded the trial court that references to the May 25 CT scan in the exhibit needed to be redacted to comply with the trial court’s order in limine:

“MRS. CHAMBERS [Ledbetter’s attorney]: We need to make sure those records are redacted that you put in.
[[Image here]]
“MRS. CHAMBERS: We’ve redacted ours.
“THE COURT: We’ve got to redact — Let’s see.
“I wrote down th[at] Defense Exhibit 6 has got to be redacted.
[[Image here]]
“THE COURT: And 7.
[[Image here]]
“THE COURT: Now, Defense 6 and 7 are two that /all need to look through to make sure they’re redacted.”

Before closing arguments, Matt Griffith, an attorney for Dr. Mottershaw, told the trial court that, pursuant to the order granting the motion in limine, “we have [49]*49redacted Defense Exhibit 5, 6, and 7.” However, the references to the May 25 CT scan were not redacted from Defendant’s Exhibit 7.

After closing arguments, the trial court asked the court reporter if “the exhibits in the trial have been looked at by .both sides” and whether “they are ready to go back.” The court reporter responded affirmatively. The trial court then asked whether “[b]oth sides have looked at those,” and the attorneys for both sides responded affirmatively. The case went to the jury on October 6, 2011. After deliberating for approximately 30 minutes, the jury sent a written question to the trial court: “Can we have a copy of the judge’s instruction (charge) [a]nd what about the test from the 25th? ” (Emphasis added.) Up to that point, the parties and the trial court were unaware that the references to the May 25 CT scan had not been redacted from Defendant’s Exhibit 7.

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Bluebook (online)
148 So. 3d 45, 2013 WL 5966785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mottershaw-v-ledbetter-ala-2013.