Battle v. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport

Daniel Battle and his parents (plaintiffs) sued the hospital and doctors (defendants) for allegedly misdiagnosing Daniel's viral encephalitis, delaying proper antibiotics. Before trial, the magistrate judge excluded the deposition of the plaintiffs' unavailable expert, Dr. Lakeman, whose test results indicated Daniel had a rare form of encephalitis the defendants disputed, on the theory that the defendants never cross-examined him at the deposition. The judge separately admitted a video deposition of another unavailable expert, Dr. Young, but barred the plaintiffs from calling Young live after they had given notice of his deposition, then sought a last-minute continuance that might have freed him to testify live. The magistrate judge ruled for the defendants at trial, and the plaintiffs appealed both evidentiary rulings.