Shelksohn v. Yeh

281 P.3d 1218 (2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Johnna was in labor and Yeh (D) gave her an epidural. P immediately began to have seizures became comatose and died seven days later. The daughter was born by C-section. Shelksohn (P), the husband, brought a wrongful death action against D. P claimed D did not administer a test dose to see if there would be an adverse reaction. Clark was Johnna's nurse. Her testimony was favorable to P but P sought to impeach her. P wanted to introduce the testimony of Nurse Spector who had just gotten off duty at the time of the epidural to a statement that Clark had made to Spector shortly thereafter. The trial court refused as Clark had not been asked if she had a conversation with Spector. The jury found for D and P appealed. The court reversed because the trial court abused its discretion. Clark had testified she did not remember having the conversation with Spector which was a denial of the conversation. This made her statement to Spector admissible as a prior inconsistent statement.