Opinion ID: 1572837
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: court of appeals' review of scientific evidence

Text: Maritime's second contention is that the court of appeals erred because it did not examine whether any well-founded scientific evidence supports the actual damages award. Maritime argues that the federal standard articulated in Daubert and the state standard articulated in Robinson and Havner are the proper standards for reviewing the sufficiency of Ellis's damages evidence. Significantly, Maritime does not complain about the trial court's admission of any of the scientific evidence from any of Ellis's five experts. Rather, Maritime's position is that if the court of appeals applied a proper scientific methodology test to Ellis's experts' testimony, the testimony would be legally insufficient to show that the long term conditions Ellis claims he suffers were caused by delayed neurotoxicity. Thus, Maritime concludes, by way of its complaints about the court of appeals' factual sufficiency review, that there is no evidence of some of Ellis's actual damages. Maritime's argument is flawed.
In Daubert, the Supreme Court considered the standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in a federal trial.  Daubert, 509 U.S. at 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, (emphasis added). Daubert' s focus is on the trial court's discretion, when faced with an objection to scientific evidence, to admit or exclude such evidence before or during the trial. The Supreme Court added that when the trial court concludes that the disputed scientific evidence is insufficient to go to the jury, the trial court may grant a summary judgment or a directed verdict. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 595, 113 S.Ct. 2786. However, Daubert does not support the proposition that a reviewing court can in effect exclude expert testimony that was not objected to based on its scientific reliability before trial or when it was offered at trial and then render judgment against the offering party. Similarly, in Robinson, we granted DuPont's application for writ of error to decide the appropriate standard for the admission of scientific expert testimony. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 554 (emphasis added). Like the Supreme Court in Daubert, we recognized the special nature of scientific expert testimony. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 554-58. We then explained the trial court's role as a gatekeeper, and recognized that [t]he trial court is responsible for making the preliminary determination of whether the proffered testimony meets the standards [for scientific reliability]. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 556. Like Daubert, Robinson' s focus is on a trial court's discretion in admitting or excluding scientific evidence after a party lodges an objection to the reliability of its opponent's scientific expert testimony before trial or when the evidence is offered. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 557. Under Havner, a party may complain on appeal that scientific evidence is unreliable and thus, no evidence to support a judgment. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706. Havner recognizes that a no evidence complaint may be sustained when the record shows one of the following: (a) a complete absence of a vital fact; (b) the reviewing court is barred by rules of law or evidence from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact; (c) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more that a mere scintilla; or (d) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of the vital fact. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 711 (citing Robert W. Calvert, No Evidence and Insufficient Evidence Points of Error, 38 Tex. L.Rev. 361, 362-63 (1960)). Here, like in Havner, Maritime contends that because Ellis's scientific evidence is not reliable, it is not evidence, and the court of appeals and this Court are barred by rules of law or of evidence from giving weight to Ellis's experts' testimony. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 711, 713.
To preserve a complaint that scientific evidence is unreliable and thus, no evidence, a party must object to the evidence before trial or when the evidence is offered. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 557; see also Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 713 (If the expert's scientific testimony is not reliable, it is not evidence.). Without requiring a timely objection to the reliability of the scientific evidence, the offering party is not given an opportunity to cure any defect that may exist, and will be subject to trial and appeal by ambush. See Marbled Murrelet v. Babbitt, 83 F.3d 1060, 1066-67 (9 th Cir.1996), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 942, 136 L.Ed.2d 831 (1997); Sumitomo Bank v. Product Promotions, Inc., 717 F.2d 215, 218 (5th Cir.1983). Reviewing courts may not exclude expert scientific evidence after trial to render a judgment against the offering party because that party relied on the fact that the evidence was admitted. Babbitt, 83 F.3d at 1067. To hold otherwise is simply unfair. Babbitt, 83 F.3d at 1067. As the Babbitt court explained: [P]ermitting [a party] to challenge on appeal the reliability of [the opposing party's] scientific evidence under Daubert, in the guise of an insufficiency-of-the-evidence argument, would give [appellant] an unfair advantage. [Appellant] would be `free to gamble on a favorable judgment before the trial court, knowing that [it could] seek reversal on appeal [despite its] failure to [object at trial].' Babbitt, 83 F.3d at 1067 (citations omitted). Thus, to prevent trial or appeal by ambush, we hold that the complaining party must object to the reliability of scientific evidence before trial or when the evidence is offered.
In this case, Maritime did not object to the reliability of Ellis's scientific evidence until after the jury verdict. Maritime nevertheless argues that the court of appeals should have applied the Daubert-Robinson-Havner [2] rationale as part of its factual sufficiency review. These cases do not support Maritime's argument because: (1) each involve admissibility or no evidence considerations, and (2) in each case the defendants timely objected to the scientific evidence. Daubert and Havner involve the anti-nausea drug, Bendectin. In these two cases, plaintiffs asserted that Bendectin caused birth defects. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786; Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 708. Robinson involved a fungicide known as Benlate that DuPont manufactured. The Robinsons contended that the Benlate they used was contaminated and damaged their pecan crop. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 551. In all three cases, causation was hotly contested, as it is in this case, on delayed effects. In all three cases, the manufacturer objected before trial or when the evidence was offered that the plaintiffs' scientific expert testimony on causation was inadmissible because it was neither relevant nor based upon a reliable foundation. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786; Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 552; Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 708-09. Thus, the manufacturers in all three cases properly preserved their claims that the expert testimony was inadmissible and was no evidence of causation because it was not relevant and not based on well-founded scientific methodology. In Daubert, Merrell Dow moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted summary judgment on the grounds that the Dauberts did not establish that the principle on which their experts based their opinions was generally accepted by the relevant scientific community. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 727 F.Supp. 570, 572 (S.D.Cal.1989). On appeal, the United States Supreme Court held that the criteria is whether the scientific evidence is relevant and reliable and thus admissible. The Court remanded Daubert to the circuit court to determine whether the expert testimony rested on a reliable foundation and was relevant. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 597, 113 S.Ct. 2786. On remand, the Ninth Circuit held that the testimony about Bendectin's effect was inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. In Robinson, the trial court granted DuPont's pretrial motion and excluded the Robinsons' expert testimony on the ground that it was neither relevant nor based upon a reliable foundation. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 552. At trial, the Robinsons again attempted to introduce their expert's testimony but the trial court abided by its earlier ruling and excluded that testimony. The Robinsons then offered a bill of exception on their expert's testimony. At the close of evidence, the trial court granted DuPont's motion for directed verdict. The Robinsons appealed on the grounds that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding their expert's testimony. This Court followed Daubert and held that a party must show, in addition to showing an expert witness is qualified, that the expert's testimony is relevant and reliable. See Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 556. Accordingly, although Robinson involves the exclusion of expert testimony, DuPont timely objected to the expert testimony before trial and when the evidence was offered. Unlike Maritime, DuPont did not wait until after the verdict to challenge the reliability of its opponent's expert testimony. In Havner, Merrell Dow objected to the Havners' scientific evidence at several junctures during the litigation. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 708. Merrell Dow moved for summary judgment contending there was no scientifically reliable evidence that Bendectin caused limb reduction birth defects or that Bendectin caused the plaintiff's birth defect. Cf. General Elec. Co. v. Joiner, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 512, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997) (affirming summary judgment when plaintiff's expert evidence did not show link between polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and cancer). The trial court held a hearing at which the scientific reliability of the Havner's summary judgment evidence was extensively aired. The trial court then denied Merrell Dow's motion for summary judgment. Before trial, Merrell Dow filed a motion in limine again questioning the scientific reliability of the Havner's expert testimony. The trial court denied Merrell Dow's motion in limine. During trial, Merrell Dow objected to the admission of the Havners' scientific evidence. Merrell Dow also unsuccessfully moved for directed verdict when the Havners closed their case, complaining about the Havners' scientific evidence. The trial court overruled Merrell Dow's objections and denied its motion for directed verdict. In Havner, while the issue was whether the scientific evidence was legally sufficient to be some evidence of causation, Merrell Dow timely challenged the experts' testimony at every opportunity in the trial court, and it properly preserved a no evidence claim. Indeed, this Court emphasized that the offering party should be allowed the opportunity to pass[] muster under a trial court Robinson objection to present the best evidence available before an appellate court considers whether legally sufficient evidence supports a judgment. Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 720. Here, Maritime did not object to the scientific reliability of a single one of Ellis's five expert witnesses until after the jury verdict. Before trial, Maritime did not ask for a Daubert/Robinson -type hearing. Cf. Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 708-09. During trial, the record reflects that Maritime made nine objections while Ellis's five experts testified. Five objections complained about nonresponsiveness, three complained about leading questions, and one complained that the witness was testifying from a document not in evidence. Simply put, Maritime did not make any objection to the reliability of Ellis's experts before trial or when Ellis offered the evidence. Maritime cannot complain for the first time after the verdict that the testimony from Ellis's five experts does not support the judgment. To allow otherwise would deny Ellis's scientific experts the opportunity to pass[] muster in the first instance and usurp the trial court's discretion as gatekeeper. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 720; Robinson, 923 S.W.2d at 554. Rules and procedures about error preservation promote certainty and fairness. Such rules also frame and develop the legal issues for appeal, giving notice to both the litigants and to appellate courts about what issues remain. Appellate courts must base their decisions on the record as made and brought forward, not on a record that should have been made or could have been made. See Babbitt, 83 F.3d at 1067. For this Court to decide now that Ellis's scientific evidence is unreliable under Daubert or Robinson would base appellate review on a record that was not made.