Judge defends $1M fine against lawyer over banned testimony [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Judge defends $1M fine against lawyer over banned testimony
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press | February 5, 2015 | Updated: February 5, 2015 3:27pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The judge who lodged a nearly $1 million fine against a Philadelphia-area lawyer believes she intentionally elicited banned testimony that caused a mistrial — and then lied about it.
The judge concluded that Berwyn lawyer Nancy Raynor failed to instruct a witness that he could not say the patient in a medical malpractice case against her client had smoked. Raynor, who was defending a doctor, had vigorously fought the judge's pretrial ruling.
Still, she insists that her expert blurted out the smoking reference despite her warnings weeks earlier and just before he took the stand.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Panepinto said that Raynor's story has changed repeatedly since the 2012 trial.
"Raynor's determination to try this case in her own way and against the rules of this court, with a lack of fairness to other parties, culminated in her willful elicitation of barred testimony from Dr. (John) Kelly," the judge wrote in an opinion Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-defends-1M-fine-against-lawyer-over-banned-6064873.php
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