Opinion ID: 1642750
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The Cross-Appeals and Additional Grounds for the Summary Judgments

Text: Landmark and Sentry both cross-appealed and both asserted additional grounds that they say support the summary judgments in their favor. In addition, the other defendants also assert similar grounds that they say support the summary judgments in their favor in the event we determined, as we did, that the spoliation-of-the-evidence doctrine is inadequate to support the summary judgments. Subject to limited exceptions, [7] an appellate court will affirm a summary judgment on the basis of a law or legal principle not invoked by the moving party or the trial court, even though an appellate court will not reverse a summary judgment on the basis of a law or legal principle not first argued to the trial court by the nonmoving party. Ex parte Ryals, 773 So.2d 1011, 1013 (Ala.2000). See also Cashion v. Torbert, 881 So.2d 408 (Ala.2004), and Smith v. Equifax Servs., Inc., 537 So.2d 463 (Ala.1988). In large part, all of these arguments, whether advanced in the form of a cross-appeal or as separate support for the summary judgments, assert the procedural argument that the trial court should have struck the plaintiffs' expert testimony, specifically the plaintiffs' evidentiary submissions, and the substantive argument that the plaintiffs' evidence, even if properly considered by the trial court, failed to present substantial evidence that the defendants' allegedly defective work was a proximate cause of the fire. With respect to the procedural arguments advanced by the defendants, Landmark and Sentry both assert in their cross-appeals that the trial court erred in not striking Jones's testimony. They argue that Jones violated an order of the trial court that he conduct no further inspection of the premises unless he was accompanied by a representative of the defendants. However, Jones testified that he made several appointments with Landmark's counsel in an attempt to comply with the trial court's order, but that Landmark broke those appointments each time. The decision concerning the appropriate sanction for failure to comply with a pretrial order, including whether to exclude the testimony of the noncomplying witness, is within the trial court's discretion. Truck Rentals of Alabama, Inc. v. M.O. Carroll-Newton Co., 623 So.2d 1106, 1112 (Ala.1993); Mitchell v. Moore, 406 So.2d 347, 350 (Ala.1981). See also Alford v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 496 So.2d 19, 21 (Ala.1986). We conclude that the trial court did not exceed its discretion in denying Landmark's motion to strike Jones's testimony. Landmark also challenges the sufficiency of the plaintiffs' response to its motion for a summary judgment, arguing that the trial court should have disregarded the plaintiffs' joint evidentiary submissions because they did not comply with Rule 56(c)(1), Ala.R.Civ.P., which states, in pertinent part: The motion shall be supported by a narrative summary of what the movant contends to be the undisputed material facts; that narrative summary may be set forth in the motion or may be attached as an exhibit. The narrative summary shall be supported by specific references to pleadings, portions of discovery materials, or affidavits and may include citations to legal authority. Any supporting documents that are not on file shall be attached as exhibits. If the opposing party contends that material facts are in dispute, that party shall file and serve a statement in opposition supported in the same manner as is provided herein for a summary of undisputed material facts. Landmark argues that the plaintiffs's responses to its motions for a summary judgment were deficient in that they did not include the appropriate narrative summary, and it also argues that the response was not filed at least two days before the hearing on the motions as required by Rule 56(c)(2). However, our review of the record shows that all the parties made numerous evidentiary filings and counter-filings with respect to various summary-judgment motions during the period between March 2, 2001, and March 3, 2003; the plaintiffs' joint evidentiary submission, consisting of numerous reports and exhibits already of record, was filed on March 3, 2003. The documents constituting the plaintiffs' joint evidentiary submission had been in the defendants' possession much earlier. The defendants' summary-judgments motions were argued on March 5, 2003. The plaintiffs' evidentiary submission contained a number of summaries this Court has held to be compliant with the requirements of Rule 56(c) for a response to a motion for a summary judgment. See, e.g., George v. Raine, 895 So.2d 258 (Ala.2004); Cashion, supra; Northwest Florida Truss, Inc. v. Baldwin County Comm'n, 782 So.2d 274 (Ala.2000); and International Fid. Ins. Co. v. Gilliam, 659 So.2d 24 (Ala.1995). With respect to the timeliness of the plaintiffs' filings, we note that Rule 6(d), Ala.R.Civ.P., vests discretion in the trial court concerning the acceptance of filings, and this discretion has often been recognized in case authority. See, e.g., Speer v. Pin Palace Bowling Alley, 599 So.2d 1140 (Ala.1992); Turner v. Hayes, 719 So.2d 1184 (Ala.Civ.App.1997), reversed in part on other grounds, Ex parte Atmore Community Hosp., 719 So.2d 1190 (Ala.1998). The circumstances of this case reveal complex and ongoing litigation, and we do not find that the trial court exceeded its discretion in considering the plaintiffs' responses to the defendants' motions under such circumstances. Landmark further argues that this Court should apply the tests for admitting expert testimony employed in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923), to exclude consideration of Jones's testimony by the trial court. This Court has not yet explicitly adopted the Daubert test. See General Motors Corp. v. Jernigan, 883 So.2d 646 (Ala.2003), Slay v. Keller Indus., Inc., 823 So.2d 623 (Ala.2001), and Courtaulds Fibers, Inc. v. Long, 779 So.2d 198 (Ala.2000). Further, we decline to adopt Daubert under the circumstances of this case. Our review of the record and of the arguments advanced by the defendants does not support the conclusion that the defendants are challenging the validity of scientific principles relating to electrical engineering, nor do we read the defendants' arguments as attacking Jones's qualifications as an expert. Rather, the defendants assert that Jones's conclusions are improperly speculative and without evidentiary foundation. These are arguments that invoke a consideration of the admissibility of the evidence under the Rules of Evidence. Rule 702, Ala.R.Evid., states: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. Moreover, the trial court has broad discretion over whether to consider a witness qualified as an expert and to consider that witness's expert testimony. `[A]n expert witness' competence to testify is an inquiry substantially within the discretion of the trial judge. [An appellate court] will not disturb the trial judge's finding of expert qualifications vel non, unless there is a clear abuse of this discretion.' Cobb v. State, 50 Ala.App. 707, 710, 282 So.2d 327, 329 (1973), citing King v. State, 266 Ala. 232, 95 So.2d 816 (1957). Slay, 823 So.2d at 625. See also Rule 104, Ala.R. Evid.; Southern Energy Homes, Inc. v. Washington, 774 So.2d 505 (Ala.2000); Rodgers v. Adams, 657 So.2d 838 (Ala.1995). Our review of the record supports the conclusion that the trial court did not exceed its discretion in finding that Jones was properly qualified as an expert under Rule 702 and in considering his testimony. Landmark also argues that the economic loss doctrine set out in Lloyd Wood Coal Co. v. Clark Equipment Co., 543 So.2d 671 (Ala.1989), bars the plaintiffs' negligence claims. The economic-loss rule prevents tort recovery when a product damages itself, causing economic loss, but does not cause personal injury or damage to any property other than itself. East River S.S. Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval, Inc., 476 U.S. 858, 871-75, 106 S.Ct. 2295, 90 L.Ed.2d 865 (1986). That doctrine states that a plaintiff's AEMLD claim that a product is defective is limited to a contractual recovery when the evidence shows that the defect caused injury to only the product and to no other property. As we discussed earlier concerning the plaintiffs' AEMLD claims in this case, there has been no determination in this case whether the damage was caused by a product within the ambit of the AEMLD. Further, the standard form contractor/subcontractor agreement between Milam and Landmark discussed above refers the resolution of disputes to arbitration and does not exclude awards of economic and consequential damages. We conclude that Landmark is not entitled to a partial summary judgment as to the plaintiffs' negligence claims under these circumstances. The defendants contend that the summary judgments in their favor are due to be affirmed also because, they say, the plaintiffs' evidentiary submissions, especially those regarding Jones, fail to establish the requisite proximate cause to support the plaintiffs' claims. As noted earlier, proximate cause is generally a question for the trier of fact. Uptain, Garner, and Green, supra. However, the defendants assert that Jones advanced multiple theories of causation and that his testimony was speculative and was not properly supported by facts. In reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovants, as we must under Hobson, supra, we note that Jones does state, with evidentiary support, that various electrical installations and connections concerning the HVAC system were not in compliance with the National Electrical Code or with recognized electrical-installation standards in the industry. Among other things, Jones testified that the unit was connected with a disparity in fusing between its supply circuit and the fuses in the unit, that the unit was improperly grounded, that some of the electrical conduit designed to cover the wires leading to and from the HVAC unit was improperly installed, and that various aspects of the electrical system involving the HVAC unit had been improperly tested or had not been tested at all. We note first that the fact that Jones considered more than one possible theory for how the allegedly faulty electrical work could have caused the fire as his investigations proceeded does not invalidate his testimony. This Court has never held that an expert is restricted to one set of hypothetically assumed facts for the formation of opinions. Indeed, astute counsel in a single deposition or trial typically may elicit multiple varying conclusions from a single expert witness on the basis of varying sets of assumptions. Moreover, this Court has not precluded even a party from submitting subsequent different testimony based on additional or different information not supplied to the party when he or she initially gave sworn testimony. See Stephenson v. Lawrence County [Bd. of Educ.], 782 So.2d 192 (Ala.2000); Tittle [v. Alabama Power Co., 570 So.2d 601 (Ala.1990)], and Rickard v. Shoals Distrib. Inc., 645 So.2d 1378 (Ala.1994). Wade Clinic of Chiropractic, P.C. v. Rayburn, 812 So.2d 1159, 1165 (Ala.2000). After a careful examination of the record, and in light of our determination that the trial court did not err in considering Jones's testimony under Rule 702, Ala.R.Evid., we conclude that that testimony, viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs as nonmovants, is substantial evidence that raises a genuine issue of material fact concerning causation. The defendants' attacks on Jones's testimony as lacking in evidentiary foundation or as speculative, under the circumstances in this case, address Jones's credibility as an expert, i.e., the weight of his testimony. Our law is well settled that once substantial evidence is adduced, the assessment of the weight of the evidence is left for the trier of fact. Tidwell v. Upjohn Co., 626 So.2d 1297 (Ala.1993); Alabama Power Co. v. Courtney, 539 So.2d 170 (Ala.1988); Baker v. Edgar, 472 So.2d 968 (Ala.1985). Accordingly, we conclude that the summary judgments entered for the defendants are due to be reversed, and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 1021196REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021310REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021324REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021327REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021255REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021326REVERSED AND REMANDED. 1021328REVERSED AND REMANDED. NABERS, C.J., and SEE, BROWN, and STUART, JJ., concur.