Hawaii Supreme Court
George N. Kekua, Sr.
October 15, 197961 Haw. 208
Summary
The court affirmed a bench-trial judgment imposing liability for negligent medical care that contributed to the decedent's death. It held that the defendants did not preserve their deposition-impeachment claim, that excluding a party admission was error but harmless because equivalent evidence was admitted and the excluded evidence would not have changed the result, and that the limitation on cross-examination was proper because the question used an ambiguous term. The court also rejected the claim that cumulative evidentiary errors denied a fair trial.
Holding
- Use of depositions for impeachment. The trial court did not commit reversible error because the defendants never offered the depositions into evidence for impeachment; the record showed that counsel was attempting to refresh recollection rather than introduce prior inconsistent statements.
- Exclusion of appellees' out-of-court statements. The trial court erred by excluding the nurse's testimony about statements made by the plaintiffs, because statements of a party opponent offered against that party are admissible as substantive evidence and are not excluded by the hearsay rule. The error was harmless and did not warrant reversal.
- Limitation on cross-examination. The trial court properly sustained an objection to the defendants' question concerning when the decedent developed 'impaired breathing' because that phrase was ambiguous and the defendants did not rephrase the question more precisely.
- Cumulative effect of evidentiary rulings. The alleged additional evidentiary errors, whether errors at all, were harmless and did not deprive the defendants of a fair trial.
Docket NO. 5851
Cited authorities
- Rule 32(a)
- Rule 61 of the Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure
- Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)
- Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)
- Fed. R. Evid. 803(4)
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