Mealey's Daubert
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February 03, 2023
6th Circuit Uphold Expert’s Exclusion, Summary Judgment Award In Crash Suit
CINCINNATI — An accident reconstructionist retained by the family of a man killed when he was struck by a semi-truck failed to show that his methodology was reliable enough to pass muster under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the exclusion of the expert’s opinions and grant of summary judgment to the defendants.
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February 01, 2023
Magistrate: Treating Doctor Can’t Opine On Causation Of Injuries From Fall
MIAMI — A Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that an emergency room doctor who examined a woman who claims that she was injured in a cruise ship bathroom be excluded from offering causation testimony.
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January 31, 2023
Texas Federal Jury Finds Insurer Acted In Good Faith, Complied With Policy
SHERMAN, Texas — A Texas federal jury returned a verdict for an insurance company, finding no evidence that the insurer failed to comply with its policy or that it engaged in unfair practices, days after the judge presiding over the trial ruled on motions to exclude the insureds’ expert witnesses.
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January 30, 2023
Judge: Parts Of Experts’ Testimony In Power Tool Accident Case Are Unreliable
PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge limited the testimony expected from two experts retained by a man who lost two fingers while using a Black & Decker router, finding that some testimony is admissible and that the manufacturer’s move for summary judgment fails.
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January 30, 2023
Judge: ‘Copycat Arguments’ In Dueling Motions To Exclude Warrant Exclusion
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge largely granted competing motions to exclude a use-of-force expert retained by a city and one of its police officers and an expert who opines that a man’s rights were violated when he was attacked by a police canine.
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January 27, 2023
Lack Of Knowledge On Software Program Dooms Insured’s Expert’s Testimony
MIAMI — A federal magistrate recommended that an expert retained in a breach of contract suit against an insurer be excluded, citing statements from the expert’s “deposition which warrant concern.”
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January 26, 2023
Expert Testimony Properly Admitted, 1st Circuit Says In Affirming Conviction
BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a man’s conviction on gun-related charges after ruling that the trial court did not err in allowing expert testimony and that there was substantial evidence to support the guilty verdict.
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January 23, 2023
Manufacturers Tell 9th Circuit Putative Homeowner Class Lacks Evidence Of Defect
SAN FRANCISCO — Two construction supply manufacturers in a Jan. 20 answering brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals aver that a federal judge properly refused to certify a class of homeowners bringing claims for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) based on the manufacturers’ sale of allegedly defective connectors and anchors, writing that the plaintiffs’ expert failed to present evidence of a common defect.
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January 19, 2023
Crash Suit Parties Reach Settlement Day After Judge Allows Expert Testimony
LAS VEGAS — Parties involved in a car accident suit filed a notice in a Nevada federal court on Jan. 18 stating that they have reached a settlement, one day after a federal judge denied a motion to exclude a woman’s expert who would opine on her future medical needs.
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January 19, 2023
N.C. Judge: Expert On How Risk Of Regulation Impacts Valuation Is Admissible
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An expert retained to opine on how the industry risk of unregulated skill-based games is relevant to a company’s valuation during a merger may testify in a shareholder payout dispute, a North Carolina state business court judge ruled.
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January 18, 2023
Ore. Federal Judge Allows Analysis On Bullet, Casing Testimony In Criminal Case
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge on Jan 17 ruled that firearm toolmark comparison evidence can be presented by the government in a criminal case against two alleged gang members after finding that the factors established under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. weigh in favor of admissibility.
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January 18, 2023
Fruit Snacks Company’s Expert Can Testify On Influence Of ‘Misleading’ Box Size
LOS ANGELES — Class members alleging that a fruit snack manufacturer deceived its customers by including nonfunctional “slack-fill” in boxes failed to convince a California federal judge to exclude testimony from the company’s expert, who opined that this allegation was not misleading or material to consumers.
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January 17, 2023
Architect Can Testify In Fall Case Against Hotel But Can’t Opine On New Repairs
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico ruled that a hotel can cross-examine an architect who opines that a woman fell in the hotel’s stairway because of negligence to point out deficiencies in his conclusions but said the testimony is not inadmissible, though she agreed to strike a portion of his testimony that she found unfairly prejudicial.
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January 17, 2023
Texas Criminal Appeals Court Finds Any Error In Officer’s Testimony To Be Harmless
AUSTIN, Texas — A trial court’s error in admitting a police officer's direct opinion testimony on the credibility of a child who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a family friend was harmless and had little influence on the jury, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals found, reversing an appellate court decision that remanded the case for a new trial.
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January 13, 2023
Expert In Oil Spill Case Is Qualified, Federal Judge Says In Win For Government
MOBILE, Ala. — A towing vessel owner who claims that the government is responsible for an oil spill from a barge lost its bid to exclude an expert witness, with an Alabama federal judge finding that the concerns raised “with regard to the proffered expert testimony goes to the weight of the testimony, not to its admissibility.”
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January 12, 2023
Judge: Expert Testimony Won’t Help Jury After Claims Dismissed In Insurance Spat
SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge agreed to bar an expert from testifying and to grant summary judgment on certain claims filed against an insurer by a woman who alleges that it breached its contract in denying her claim for property damage.
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January 11, 2023
Expert Correctly Excluded In Wrongful Death Suit, Utah Appeals Court Says
SALT LAKE CITY — A trial court did not err in excluding an expert retained by the estate of a man whom it alleges died as a result of negligence by a nursing home, a Utah appeals court ruled, also finding that because the estate failed to establish medical causation, summary judgment was also appropriate.
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January 10, 2023
11th Circuit Finds No Error In Allowing Expert Testimony In Insurance Fraud Case
ATLANTA — A district court did not err in admitting expert opinion testimony against a man convicted for his role in a $37 million health care fraud scheme that began in 1998 and involved bribing physicians to have patients entered into a network of assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities that he owned, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, rejecting each of the man’s other arguments for reversal.
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January 09, 2023
Federal Judge Allows Expert Testimony But Limits Scope In Child Abuse Case
OKLAHOMA CITY — An expert retained by a couple facing child abuse and child neglect charges may testify in the criminal case, but an Oklahoma federal judge limited his testimony to exclude any conclusions that are within the capacity of an average juror.
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January 06, 2023
Federal Judge: Experts Cannot Testify On Facts Not Relevant To Pending Charges
CINCINNATI — An Ohio federal judge has agreed to limit testimony from experts retained by the United States and a former politician charged with racketeering, finding that testimony relating to campaign finance violations is irrelevant to the facts of the case.
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January 06, 2023
Law Firm Loses Bid To Exclude Commercial Lending Practices Expert In Fraud Suit
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An expert retained to testify on the customs and practices among commercial lenders may testify in a fraud and negligent misrepresentation case, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, denying a law firm’s motion to strike.
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January 03, 2023
Judge Admits Testimony Of Former Montana Senator In Asbestos-Screening Fight
MISSOULA, Mont. — Former Sen. Max Baucus was timely disclosed as an expert and, to ensure that there is no prejudice to a railway prosecuting a False Claims Act (FCA) suit, it may depose him, but disclosure of a hybrid-expert witness after the close for fact witnesses requires excluding a second expert, a federal judge in Montana said.
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January 02, 2023
Judge Limits Testimony From Expert On Causation, Work Expectancy After Accident
BURLINGTON, Vt. — An expert retained by a man rendered a paraplegic after a skiing accident can testify in a limited capacity on the cause of his injuries and his diminished earning potential, a Vermont federal judge ruled.
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December 23, 2022
Safety Expert Unqualified, Opinions Are Unreliable, Judge Rules In Excluding
PITTBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge agreed to exclude a safety expert retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured when books fell from a shelf inside a Dollar General store.
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December 14, 2022
Judge Limits Testimony From 1 Expert, Allows 2 Others In Prisoner’s Suit
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut federal judge ruled on motions to exclude experts retained in a prisoner’s suit alleging cruel and unusual punishment, finding that one expert can speak generally on solitary confinement but cannot opine on the mental health of the inmate but that other experts retained by the inmate meet the admissibility standards of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.