Opinion ID: 1883935
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: James Tarr.

Text: ¶ 19. James N. Tarr, Plaintiffs' air modeling expert, was allowed to testify despite numerous contemporaneous objections by DuPont. Tarr testified that in general, corporations act to intimidate and deceive regulatory agencies. DuPont objected that the testimony did not apply specifically to DuPont, and was improper and should be struck. DuPont also sought a mistrial based on the series of contemporaneous objections. Tarr stated: [T]he people who are what I call in the trenches of the regulatory agencies tend to be young, inexperienced, and sometimes they can be intimidated by the power that they perceive that a major corporation like DuPont might bring to bear if they didn't give DuPont what they want. (Emphasis added). ¶ 20. Tarr's testimony was not based on DuPont's dealings with any regulatory agency. As DuPont stated in its motion for a mistrial, Tarr speculated about the interaction between a hypothetical company and a hypothetical agency. Tarr's testimony was not specific as to Mississippi, as to DuPont's plant in Mississippi, or as to DuPont. ¶ 21. The comments to Mississippi Rule of Evidence 702, which applies to testimony by experts, state, [t]he use of the hypothetical question has been justly criticized. Here, Tarr's testimony was as to hypothetical regulatory violations by DuPont or DuPont's employees. It was improper to allow testimony lumping DuPont, based on its size, into a hypothetical with other large companies that may have a history of intimidating and deceiving regulatory agencies. From Tarr's line of testimony, the jury easily could have been misled into believing that DuPont was guilty of covering up alleged regulatory violations. Under a Rule 403 balancing test, Tarr's testimony was more prejudicial to DuPont than probative. See M.R.E. 403. There exists a real danger that the testimony would unfairly prejudice DuPont and mislead the jury with the accusations of hypothetical regulatory violations by DuPont. ¶ 22. On remand, the Strongs shall refrain from questioning Tarr as to his speculation about the interaction between a hypothetical company and a hypothetical governmental agency. This line of questioning shall be limited to Tarr's knowledge, if any, of intimidating actions by DuPont or DuPont's employees against a specific regulatory agency.