Opinion ID: 781962
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Impact on Dodge III

Text: 70 As we observed at the outset, the Dodge III verdict is tied directly to Dodge II given the district court's ruling that plaintiffs could make use of offensive collateral estoppel on the negligent conduct issue. Aplt.App. at 016848-851. Beyond this, however, in deciding whether to admit certain contested experts in Dodge III, the district court relied entirely on its decisions from Dodge II. As a result, the two cases are inextricably linked. 71 In Dodge III, Cotter once again moved to exclude under Daubert the testimony of several of the plaintiffs' experts, including Mr. Miller, Dr. Dollinger and Dr. Smith. Id. at 018798-935. Cotter also requested a Daubert hearing, id. at 018348-351, which the district court denied, explaining as follows: [T]he Court has previously ruled on the admissibility of plaintiffs' expert testimony. To hold another hearing on the same experts, the same testimony, and the same disputes, would be duplicative, and a waste of the Court's time and resources. Id. at 019027. The court also denied Cotter's Daubert motion as it pertained to experts who testified in Dodge II. Id. at 020188. 72 Thus, as a result of its reliance on rulings made in Dodge II, the court in Dodge III again failed to make specific, detailed findings on the record to assure that the expert testimony offered was relevant and reliable, and that particular opinions were based on valid reasoning and reliable methodology. Therefore, for the reasons discussed at length above, we conclude that the district court abused its discretion in Dodge III by admitting the testimony of Mr. Miller, Dr. Dollinger and Dr. Smith. Furthermore, because the claims in Dodge III are the same as those alleged in Dodge II and because they depended upon this expert testimony just as much as the Dodge II claims, we have no recourse but to reverse and remand Dodge III for a new trial. 1 73 For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE and REMAND for new trial both Dodge II and Dodge III. The plaintiffs' cross appeals in both appeals are DENIED as moot. All other pending motions are DENIED as moot.