Schindler v. Seiler
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
474 F.3d 1008 (2007)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Dr. Jay Schindler (plaintiff) brought a defamation suit against Joe Seiler (defendant). Schindler alleged that Seiler had told Dr. Kerry White that Schindler was a bad doctor who paralyzed four patients. At trial, Schindler sought to testify that White had said to him, “Joe Seiler is downstairs right now and just told me that you paralyzed four patients.” Seiler and White both denied that Seiler had made the statement. Schindler did not present any other evidence that this particular statement was made. White did testify that he had informed Schindler that Seiler had mentioned that disparaging comments were being made against Schindler. White testified that he had told Schindler about the comments because White was concerned about Schindler’s reputation. The district court excluded Schindler’s testimony as inadmissible hearsay. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Seiler. Schindler appealed, arguing that his testimony about White’s statement was admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule for present-sense impressions.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bauer, J.)
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