Opinion ID: 2385362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Accident Reconstruction Testimony

Text: Defendant argues that the Superior Court justice committed prejudicial error in allowing State Police Trooper Gary Phillips to testify as an expert regarding the location of the collision between Longley's automobile and Officer Gallant. Longley asserts first, that Phillips did not possess the necessary qualifications to testify as an expert, and second, that Phillips impermissibly based his opinion on surmise and conjecture. M.R.Evid. 702 states that expert witnesses who are qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. Allowing expert testimony is within the discretion of the trial justice. State v. Boutilier, 426 A.2d 876, 878 (Me.1981). Although Trooper Phillips' formal training in accident reconstruction was limited to three weeks, a period this court described in State v. Boutilier as leaving a great deal to be desired, id., Phillips possesses adequate qualifications under the various criteria of Rule 702 to testify as an expert in this case. In addition to his specialized training, he attended a 30-hour course in basic accident investigation. He has taught in accident reconstruction programs, has reconstructed over 100 accidents himself and assisted in reconstructing 700-800 others (including 100 vehicle-pedestrian accidents), has qualified as an expert in other Maine trials, and has consulted with other state police departments on the subject. The trial court's decision that Phillips was qualified to testify as an expert on accident reconstruction certainly fell within its reasonable discretion. Second, defendant alleges that Trooper Phillips' opinion was impermissibly based on surmise and conjecture. The allegation springs from the language of our opinion in Parker v. Hohman, 250 A.2d 698, 702 (Me. 1969): The opinion of the expert, however, must be based upon facts established by the evidence in the case to which sound scientific principles are applied. . . . The expert's opinion may not be based upon surmise or conjecture. Defendant bases his allegation on the fact that Phillips could not provide exact locations of the final resting place of Reid or Officer Gallant's flashlight. In addition, he alleges fault in Phillips' assumptions that Gallant was stationary, that the vehicle was moving in an upward direction at the point of impact, that the path of travel of Officer Gallant's handcuff key was caused by Longley's car, and that any tracks left in the shoulder of the road by Longley's auto had been obliterated by the people at the scene directly after the accident. An expert witness who reconstructs an accident from available data cannot be expected to testify to the exact events that occurred during an accident. We do not require that an expert testify with absolute certainty as to the validity of his assumptions and conclusions. See State v. Atkinson, 458 A.2d 1200, 1204-05 (Me.1983); State v. Woodbury, 403 A.2d 1166, 1170 (Me.1979). What we regard as requisite to the admissibility of proffered expert testimony is a showing of sufficient reliability to satisfy the evidentiary requirements of relevance and helpfulness, and of avoidance of prejudice to parity [sic] or confusion of the fact-finder. State v. Boutilier, 426 A.2d at 879 (emphasis in original) (discussing expert testimony based upon an allegedly scientific theory). Any lack of certainty by the expert affects the weight accorded his testimony, not its admissibility. State v. Atkinson, 458 A.2d at 1205; State v. Bridges, 413 A.2d 937, 942 (Me.1980). In this case, Trooper Phillips conducted a thorough investigation of the accident scene, attended the autopsy of Officer Gallant's body, examined the automobile involved at length, and conducted on-site experiments using Longley's AMC Hornet. None of the other witnesses contradicted the assumptions made by Phillips. All of the information compiled from those sources was considered by Phillips and used by him in reaching his conclusion. Trooper Phillips had the expert qualifications necessary to assist the court by his opinion on the location of the accident. Obviously, since he was not a witness to the collision, his conclusions would be based on the logical inferences he drew from his investigation. Phillips conducted a complete and careful investigation, analyzed the available data, and formed an opinion to which he testified at trial. Any doubt that the defense could cast upon Phillips' qualifications or testimony go to weight, not to admissibility. It was not an abuse of discretion for the trial justice to admit the expert testimony of Phillips.