Opinion ID: 481010
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Complained of Rulings

Text: 59 In the alternative, Nichols argues that if this Court finds that there is an absence of substantial evidence to sustain the jury's verdict, it is entitled to a new trial on the grounds that the district court erred in certain of its evidentiary rulings. Appellant argues that the district court should not have excluded from evidence its exhibit consisting of an outflow valve with a broken diaphragm retention ring. Appellant argues that the court's failure to admit this defective valve deprived the jury of the opportunity to observe how a broken ring would affect the operation of the valve. Nichols also argues that the district court erroneously allowed Jules Viquesney to testify as an expert for defendants on pressurization systems and outflow and safety valves, even though he earlier had denied that he was an expert in those fields. Nichols argues that it was prejudiced by the district court's decision because it had not been apprised before trial as to Viquesney's opinions nor the factual bases supporting them. As a result, it claims that it was unable to effectively cross-examine Viquesney or counter his opinion testimony. Third, Nichols contends that the district court improperly granted a directed verdict for defendant Cruse after submitting the issues of negligence and redhibition to the jury. It argues that the proper motion would have been one for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and that Cruse failed to file such a motion. We reject each of these arguments. Exclusion of Broken Valve 60 Nichols attempted to introduce into evidence a valve with a broken retention ring so that Lombardo could show the jury how a broken retention ring might cause a valve to jam in either an open or a closed position. It was not shown that the valve or ring were the same kind as those employed in the crashed airplane. Other exemplar rings and valves were in evidence. The court sustained defendants' objection to the admission of this evidence. We affirm the district court's ruling. 61 Time and again we have stated that the admission of evidence is within the sound discretion of the district court.... Absent proof of abuse an appellate court will not disturb a district court's evidentiary rulings. Jon-T Chemicals, Inc. v. Freeport Chemical Co., 704 F.2d 1412, 1417 (5th Cir.1983) (per curiam). See also Shipp v. General Motors Corp., 750 F.2d 418, 427 (5th Cir.1985) (The admission of ... demonstrative evidence is within the trial court's sound discretion and will not be disturbed on appeal absent 'abuse.' ). Moreover, there will be no reversal on appeal for a district court's exclusion of evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected. Fed.R.Evid. 103(a); Johnson v. William C. Ellis & Sons Iron Works, Inc., 609 F.2d 820, 823 (5th Cir.1980). 62 We hold that the court acted within its discretion in excluding the defective valve. Further, the proffered evidence would not have cured the deficiency in proof which we have found, and, since the jury found in favor of Nichols without the evidence, 26 its exclusion was at all events harmless. Admission of Expert Testimony 63 Appellant also requests a new trial on the ground that the district court permitted Jules Viquesney to testify as an expert concerning the Conquest's pressurization system in spite of his lack of qualifications as an expert in that area. Nichols claims prejudice because it had not been apprised prior to trial of Viquesney's opinions and the factual bases supporting them, thereby thwarting its ability to obtain discovery and effectively cross-examine the witness at trial. We reject these arguments. 64 The district court permitted Viquesney to testify as an expert in the field of aeronautical engineering. A review of his credentials, including extensive experience and schooling in the aeronautics field, satisfies us that the district court did not abuse its broad discretion by allowing him to testify as an expert. Moreover, the district court advised the jury that while Viquesney might testify as to some aspects of the pressurization system, that field was outside his specific area of responsibility. Our disposition of appellees' sufficiency of the evidence contentions in no way depends on any testimony by Viquesney in respect to these areas, and, as the jury found in favor of Nichols notwithstanding the testimony of Viquesney, 27 admission of his testimony was harmless in any event. 65 We likewise reject appellant's contention that it has been prejudiced because it was not apprised of Viquesney's opinions and the factual bases supporting them prior to trial. As the district court noted, Viquesney's name was listed on the pretrial order as an expert that might be called, although not specifically as to why. In addition, appellant deposed the witness on two occasions prior to trial. We reject the claim that appellant was deprived of the opportunity to obtain discovery and effectively cross-examine the witness at trial. Directed Verdict for Defendant Cruse 66 Nichols argues that Cruse failed to file a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and that the district court therefore erred when it granted a directed verdict for Cruse after the case had been submitted to the jury and its verdict received. Appellant argues that the court, by granting a directed verdict, in effect granted a judgment n.o.v. without Cruse's having submitted a proper motion, in violation of Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b). As a result, it argues that even if the verdict against defendants-appellees Cessna and Garrett is not reinstated, the directed verdict for Cruse should be reversed and remanded for entry of a judgment against Cruse. We reject this contention. The district court here had expressly reserved its ruling on Cruse's motion for directed verdict made at the close of all the evidence, and never entered a judgment against Cruse. 67 In Burris v. Willis Indep. School Dist., Inc., 713 F.2d 1087, 1096 n. 7 (5th Cir.1983), we wrote: 68 We wish to stress that the motion for directed verdict [in this case] was granted after a thirteen-day jury trial. Under such conditions, a more appropriate approach by the district court would have been to hold its ruling until after the verdict, and treat it as a motion for a judgment n.o.v. (Emphasis added.) 69 Other Courts of Appeals have made similar statements. See, e.g., Holmgren v. Massey-Ferguson, Inc., 516 F.2d 856, 859 n. 2 (8th Cir.1975) (Once again we emphasize the wisdom and expediency of reserving a ruling on such motions [for directed verdict] until the jury has had the opportunity to weigh the evidence.). 28 70 In Johnson v. New York, N.H. & H.R. Co., 344 U.S. 48, 73 S.Ct. 125, 97 L.Ed. 77 (1952), the Supreme Court considered a Jones Act case in which at the close of all the evidence the sole defendant moved for a directed verdict, and the district court reserved decision on the motion and submitted the case to the jury, which returned a verdict for the plaintiff, on which judgment for the plaintiff was then entered. The defendant, within ten days after the verdict, made a motion which the Supreme Court construed as being one for a new trial, but not for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. More than two months later, the district court entered an order denying the motion for new trial and also the motion for directed verdict on which decision had been reserved. On the defendant's appeal, the Second Circuit held that the motion for directed verdict should have been granted and entered a judgment which, as construed by the Supreme Court, requires the District Court to enter judgment for the [defendant] railroad notwithstanding the verdict, thereby depriving petitioner [plaintiff] of another trial. Id., 73 S.Ct. at 126. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the absence of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) prevented the action taken by the Second Circuit, which should only have reversed and ordered a new trial. 71 We believe that several features present in this case, but not in Johnson, properly distinguish that decision. To begin with, in Johnson it was the power of the appellate court which was at issue, while here we deal with the power of the trial court. Johnson itself describes the issue before the Court as one concerning the power of a Court of Appeals to render judgment for a defendant instead of ordering a new trial, and states that the single issue on which review was granted was [w]hether the Court of Appeals could direct such a judgment consistently with Rule 50(b). Id. at 126. Part of the Court's reasoning seems to rest on the thought that such action by an appellate court prevented the losing party there from invoking the district court's discretionary authority to order a new trial instead of a judgment against it. See id. at 126-27. The Court also relied on the fact that it had previously refused to adopt a proposed amendment to Rule 50(b) which would have given appellate courts power to enter judgments for parties who, like this respondent, had made no timely motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Id. at 128. These factors sufficed to convince the Seventh Circuit that Johnson was inapplicable to action by the district court. Shaw v. Hines Lumber Co., 249 F.2d 434 (7th Cir.1957). Nevertheless, we must observe that the Supreme Court did state in Johnson that in the absence of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict made in the trial court within ten days after reception of a verdict the rule forbids the trial judge or an appellate court to enter such a judgment. Johnson, 73 S.Ct. at 127 (emphasis added). 29 72 Another distinguishing feature of Johnson is that there the district court's action on the motion for directed verdict came at a time when not only had no motion for judgment n.o.v. been filed, but when the time for filing such a motion had long since expired (over two months after verdict, see note 29, supra ). Here, by contrast, when the district court granted Cruse's motion for directed verdict, on which it had reserved ruling, no judgment had been entered for or against Cruse, and Cruse consequently was still entitled (under the current version of Rule 50(b), see note 29, supra ) to file a motion for judgment n.o.v. This same factor led the First Circuit to distinguish Johnson in First Safe Deposit National Bank v. Western Union Tel. Co., 337 F.2d 743, 745-46 (1st Cir.1964). The First Circuit construed the above-quoted language of Johnson respecting the trial judge to refer only to situations where, by the passage of time without a motion for judgment n.o.v., it was no longer possible for such a judgment to be entered. The First Circuit stated that where a timely motion for judgment n.o.v. could still be filed, the trial court 73 could have asked the defendant to file an immediate Rule 50(b) motion, and have acted upon it. To say that it could not, instead, act on the [defendant's] reserved pre-verdict motion [for directed verdict] would be to insist upon form over substance. First Safe Deposit National Bank, 337 F.2d at 746. 74 We believe these remarks are fully applicable to the case at bar. Moreover, were we to reverse the district court because it entered judgment for Cruse, when Cruse had not filed a motion for judgment n.o.v., and if the district court were to thereafter for the first time enter judgment against Cruse, 30 Cruse could within ten days thereafter file a timely motion for judgment n.o.v., 31 which the district court, consistently with its prior action and our opinion on the merits herein, would presumably grant. This strikes us as a wholly useless exercise. 32 75 We conclude that, in the present circumstances, the rule of Johnson is inapplicable and that Cruse's failure to file a motion for judgment n.o.v. did not prevent the district court from granting Cruse's motion for directed verdict on which decision had previously been reserved. Such a conclusion, we believe, finds support by analogy in our several recent decisions dealing with motions for directed verdict, which have, under limited, exceptional circumstances, excused purely technical noncompliance with Rule 50(b) and admonished against slavish adherence to the [Rule's] procedural sequence. Bohrer v. Hanes Corp., 715 F.2d 213, 217 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1026, 104 S.Ct. 1284, 79 L.Ed.2d 687 (1984); Villanueva v. McInnis, 723 F.2d 414, 417 (5th Cir.1984); Merwine v. Board of Trustees for State Institutions, 754 F.2d 631, 634 (5th Cir.1985). We accordingly reject Nichols' argument that Cruse's failure to have filed a motion for judgment n.o.v. prevented the district court from rendering judgment for it after the verdict. 33 Conclusion 76 For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the district court is affirmed. 77 AFFIRMED.