Williams v. Memorial Medical Center, Inc. , 218 Ga. App. 107 ( 1995 )

Pope, Presiding Judge,

concurring specially.

I disagree with some of the majority’s analysis in Division 1, but nonetheless concur with its decision to affirm.

I agree that the trial court’s initial ruling that Dr. Ferrer’s failure of his board examination was inadmissible was proper. See, e.g., Sommers v. Friedman, 493 NW2d 393 (Wis. Ct. App. 1992). This evidence was essentially “bad character” evidence which, if logically relevant to what happened during the incident in question at all, was more prejudicial than probative. See OCGA § 24-2-2. And since this was the only time plaintiffs elicited a ruling on the question, we cannot conclude that the trial court erred.

But I think it important to note that once defendant started eliciting testimony about what a generally good doctor Dr. Ferrer was and what a generally good hospital defendant was, it opened the door for plaintiffs’ evidence of Dr. Ferrer’s failure of his board examination. Plaintiffs did not try to introduce this evidence again, however, and thus deprived the trial court of the opportunity to consider this question.