Opinion ID: 485303
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: admissibility of the videotaped experiment.

Text: 41 The admissibility of evidence of experimental tests rests largely in the discretion of the trial judge and his decision will not be overturned absent a clear showing of an abuse of discretion. Sprynczynatyk v. General Motors Corp., 771 F.2d 1112, 1124 (8th Cir.1985), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1263, 89 L.Ed.2d 572 (1986). A court may properly admit experimental evidence if the tests were conducted under conditions substantially similar to the actual conditions. Admissibility, however, does not depend on perfect identity between actual and experimental conditions. Ordinarily, dissimilarities affect the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility. Randall v. Warnaco, Inc., 677 F.2d 1226, 1233-34 (8th Cir.1982) (citations omitted); see also Patterson v. F.W. Woolworth Co., 786 F.2d 874, 880 (8th Cir.1986). 42 Champeau challenges the admission of a videotaped experiment into evidence at the second trial. The experiment showed that if the driver of a tractor-trailer rig traveling thirty-five miles per hour took his foot off of the accelerator one-quarter mile from the curve that was the scene of the accident and never accelerated again, the rig would coast to a stop short of the curve. The purpose of the experiment was not to recreate the accident, but to take Champeau's distance and speed estimates and show that under the applicable laws of physics the accident could not have occurred as Champeau had described. 43 Some similarities in conditions existed between the experiment and the accident, but the conditions were far from identical. In order to remedy this situation the district court submitted to the jury lists of differences and similarities written by the attorneys. In light of the similarities in conditions and the lists of similarities and differences submitted to the jury, we cannot find error in the admission of the videotaped experiment into evidence. 44 Moreover, the experiment did not need to be performed in similar circumstances in order to be admissible because it did not purport to be a recreation of the accident and it was merely used to demonstrate general principles of physics as applied to Champeau's testimony. See Nanda v. Ford Motor Co., 509 F.2d 213, 223 (7th Cir.1974); Harkins v. Ford Motor Co., 437 F.2d 276, 278 & n. 5 (3d Cir.1970). We therefore conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence. 45