Opinion ID: 757583
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Expert's Affidavit

Text: 18 Trial courts have broad discretion in rulings on the admissibility of expert opinion evidence, which the court of appeals will not disturb unless manifestly erroneous. Eiland v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 58 F.3d 176, 180 (5th Cir. 1995). Expert opinion testimony is admissible if it is helpful to the jury in understanding the evidence or determining a fact in issue. FED.R.EVID. 702. Bannister and Sullivan argue that the magistrate should have stricken the affidavit of Hayter's law enforcement expert because it failed to set forth qualifications sufficient to establish him as an expert and because it set forth the expert's opinion in a conclusory fashion. See Orthopedic & Sports Injury Clinic v. Wang Lab., Inc., 922 F.2d 220, 225 (5th Cir. 1991) (noting that affidavits setting forth 'ultimate or conclusory facts and conclusions of law' are insufficient to either support or defeat a motion for summary judgment[,] and that [w]ithout more than credentials and a subjective opinion, an expert's testimony that 'it is so' is not admissible.). We disagree with the defendants' interpretation of the expert's affidavit; therefore, we find that the magistrate did not err in overruling the defendants' objections. 19 The magistrate's decision to overrule the defendants' objections to the expert affidavit was not manifestly erroneous or an abuse of discretion. See Phillips Oil Co. v. OKC Corp., 812 F.2d 265, 280 n. 32 (5th Cir.) (explaining that the manifest error standard is harmonious with the abuse of discretion standard as applied to this issue in other Fifth Circuit cases), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 851, 108 S.Ct. 152, 98 L.Ed.2d 107 (1987). The affidavit sufficiently states the expert's credentials to qualify him as an expert, noting that the expert has basic, intermediate, and advanced law enforcement certifications issued by the State of Texas as well as an Associate Degree (major in criminal justice/law enforcement) from Panola Junior College. The affidavit further states that the expert was trained in the requirements for a lawful arrest and the identification of various controlled substances, including marijuana. 20 In addition, the affidavit stated sufficient relevant facts in connection with the expert's conclusion that no reasonable officer could believe that he or she had probable cause for an arrest for possession of marijuana based on the appearance and odor of the Inda-Kind. The expert tied his opinion to the specific fact that the defendants found the substance in a plastic sandwich bag under the visor in Hayter's car. The expert further stated that the substance did not look or smell anything like marijuana, which he had confiscated on many occasions during his many years of work in the law enforcement field. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the magistrate's overruling of the defendants' objections to the expert's affidavit was manifestly erroneous.