Macaulay v. Anas
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
321 F.3d 45 (2003)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Katherine Macaulay (plaintiff) had back surgery performed by Dr. Peter Anas (defendant). The surgery did not go as planned, and Macaulay sued Anas for negligence in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. During trial, Macaulay called another one of her doctors, Dr. Todd Albert, as a witness. On direct examination, Albert testified that Anas had misplaced screws in Macaulay’s spine during the surgery. On cross-examination, Anas’s attorney asked Albert about the standard of care due to Macaulay. Albert testified that although the screws were misplaced, that did not necessarily mean that Anas had breached the standard of care. Macaulay’s objection to this testimony was overruled. The jury returned a verdict in Anas’s favor. Macaulay appealed, arguing that the cross-examination of Albert improperly exceeded the scope of his direct examination.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Selya, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
