Opinion ID: 1798770
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: did the trial court err in permitting the police officer to testify as to his opinion as to the point of impact?

Text: In order for a police officer to testify as to his opinion about the location of the point of impact of vehicles involved in a collision, certain requirements must be met. He must be qualified as an expert in accident investigation. Mulberry v. Howard, Ky., 457 S.W.2d 827 (1970). His qualifications, schooling, training and experience in accident investigation are essential. Eldredge v. Pike, Ky., 396 S.W.2d 314 (1965). His testimony must be supported by physical evidence observed by him and these facts must be disclosed to the jury. Wells v. Conley, Ky., 384 S.W.2d 496 (1964). Moreover, his expert opinion may not be based on any assumption. Ibid. Because of the obvious impact on a jury, of the testimony of an unbiased, objective policeman, the requirements described must all be met. Essential fairness in a trial requires that the trial court carefully scrutinize the qualifications and the testimony of the officer before permitting his opinion testimony to be submitted to a jury. Our analysis of this testimony clearly mandates the conclusion that the physical evidence did not support his testimony which was pivotal in this case. The policeman, David Hosick, testified that the point of impact was in two different places. At trial, he opined that it was at the intersection, while at a pre-trial deposition he stated that the accident occurred a little north of the intersection itself. The physical evidence relied on by Officer Hosick as a basis for his opinion includes: (1) statements made by both drivers and an eyewitness; (2) photographs taken by him of both vehicles at their final resting places; and (3) measurements taken by him from fixed points (telephone poles) to the final resting points of the vehicles. He testified that there were neither skid marks nor debris north of the intersection. His written accident report did not contain any notation about debris at any location and at no time did he testify as to the existence of any gouge marks. Officer Hosick testified that the statements of the drivers and the witness played a large part in arriving at his opinion. Perhaps the most apparent weakness in his testimony was what he said about debris. Although he found no debris north of the intersection, he did find it south thereof. When questioned about this, he assumed that this debris had scattered or moved away from the point of impact by the motion of both vehicles. This explanation of the location of the debris is based purely on an assumption and is improper under the mandate of Wells v. Conley, supra , as the basis for opinion evidence. The three items of physical evidence, moreover, are not physical evidence. The officer failed to explain, for example, as to how or why the final resting place of the vehicles indicates that the point of impact was north of the intersection. Certainly, this observation is neither self-explanatory nor conclusory in nature and suggests that an opinion drawn from this observation must be based on either undisclosed facts or assumptions, both of which are invalid. Officer Hosick conceded that the measurements taken from the telephone poles to the fixed points (the final resting place of the two vehicles) would not have been taken if he had actually been able to detect a point of impact. The admission of Officer Hosick's point of impact testimony was clearly prejudicial to the movant. We hold that the lack of physical evidence coupled with the obvious impact of a police officer's testimony on a jury resulted in an improper admission of the testimony.