Opinion ID: 2209506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 27

Heading: Admission of Testimony of State's Expert on Causation

Text: Woollen claims that the State's expert, Sicking, should not have been permitted to testify. Woollen's argument appears to be that Sicking's testimony did not agree with that of other witnesses and that it should, therefore, have been excluded. We do not agree. The admission of expert testimony is ordinarily within the discretion of the trial court. Childers v. Phelps County, 252 Neb. 945, 568 N.W.2d 463 (1997). Here, Sicking indicated that his qualifications included a Ph.D. degree in civil engineering from Texas A & M University, 12 years of work with the Texas Transportation Institute researching roadside safety issues, and a position as the director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, which conducts safety research and advises state highway departments on safety issues. Sicking testified that he has written over 100 publications, primarily in the area of roadside and roadway safety. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and he is an active participant on the Transportation Research Board. Sicking received the Federal Highway Administration Safety Award for his development of a roadside safety device. Sicking stated that he had reviewed the accident report, photos of the scene at the time of the accident, photos of the highway after the accident, photologs from the Nebraska Department of Roads photolog system, Woollen's deposition, witness statements, and climatological data in reaching his opinion. The record demonstrates that Sicking was qualified to render relevant expert testimony and had a basis for so doing. Woollen's complaint about Sicking goes to the weight to be accorded to Sicking's testimony, not its admissibility. Our review of the record shows that the trial court did not err in admitting Sicking's testimony. This assignment of error is without merit.