Opinion ID: 1418760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Rulings on Evidence of Damages

Text: Northwest contends the trial court erred in permitting the witness Wallen to testify as an expert and give opinion testimony of the value of the equipment at the time of the auction sale. Northwest contends he was not qualified. Whether a witness is qualified as an expert is entrusted to the trial court's judgment; however, that judgment is not uncontrolled. Meyer v. Harvey Aluminum, 263 Or. 487, 489-491, 501 P.2d 795 (1972). For many years Wallen supervised road construction including assisting in the acquisition of equipment. He had been the general superintendent of Fall Creek for the last nine years. He participated in purchasing all the equipment involved. After the sale he was general superintendent for the party who bought the equipment. The witness attended many auction sales of equipment. There was ample evidence to justify the trial court's decision that the witness Wallen was qualified. On the other hand, the trial court struck the equipment valuation given by one of Northwest's witnesses, Barker, because the trial court found he was not qualified as an expert. The witness admitted he had little knowledge of the value of rock crushers which were a substantial part of the equipment. He also, in effect, stated he based his value of the crushers primarily on what others told him. The trial court was supported by the evidence in ruling that Barker was not qualified to testify to the value of the entire lot of equipment, including the crushers. Northwest offered into evidence the depreciation schedule prepared by Fall Creek's accountant to compute Fall Creek's income taxes for the fiscal year prior to the sale. The schedule listed the equipment and purported to state the cost of each item of equipment. Northwest offered the schedule to show that the cost of some items was less than the value claimed by plaintiff at the time of sale. The trial court refused the offer and Northwest claims error. The accountant whose firm prepared the schedule testified that in many instances the figure shown as the cost of an item was not the actual cost. He stated one frequent reason for this was that if an item was purchased and part of the purchase price was a trade-in, the cost would be listed on the schedule as the cash paid, plus the cost of the trade-in, less the book depreciation of the trade-in. The trial court was operating within the latitude accorded it by excluding the schedule because its misleading quality could very well outweigh its probative value. Carter v. Moberly, 263 Or. 193, 200, 501 P.2d 1276 (1972). The judgment in plaintiff Weiss' case is reversed and remanded to the trial court with instructions to delete those parts of the judgment awarding plaintiff anything other than the $2,400 general damages. Weiss' case is remanded for a new trial on the issue of punitive damages. The judgment in the plaintiff Auld's case is affirmed.