Opinion ID: 654190
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: I think he was wrong then.

Text: In our view, it is fortunate that the trial court rejected this proffer. The alleged ruling on the claim construction in the Tennessee trial, as stated by Mr. Mendenhall's counsel, was legally erroneous. See Johnston v. Ivac Corp., 885 F.2d 1574, 1579-80, 12 USPQ2d 1382, 1385-86 (Fed.Cir.1989) (rejecting argument that means-plus-function element of a claim covers any means for performing the required function). 19 Cedarapids argues that other claims are broader. However, we need not address these claim differentiations. Claim 1 reads: In apparatus for use in hot mix recycling in which aged asphaltic concrete pavement is removed and sized to provide an aged mix, then heated to a temperature less than the destructive temperature of its old asphalt but sufficient to at least begin its rejuvenation, and thereafter combined with heated fresh aggregate and fresh asphalt, the apparatus including a first drum having upstream and downstream axial ends, means for supporting the first drum in an attitude inclining downwardly in a direction from its upstream to its downstream end, means for rotating the first drum about its axis effective together with said inclination to move material introduced into the first drum adjacent its upstream end in said direction to adjacent the downstream end, means to assist retention of material introduced therein as aforesaid on and its elevation by the first drum interior walls during said material movement, and means disposed adjacent the downstream end of the first drum for removal of material therefrom, the improvement comprising: a second drum having corresponding upstream and downstream ends, a downstream portion of the second drum extending into an upstream portion of the first drum through the upstream end thereof, the downstream end of the second drum opening into the first drum, said upstream portion of the first drum spacedly enveloping said downstream portion of the second drum, material in the first drum being introduced into the space between said upstream and downstream portions of the first and second drums, the second drum being supported for rotation about its axis and for movement in said direction of material introduced into the second drum adjacent its upstream end to its downstream end and into the first drum for combination with material in the first drum; and means carried by the interior walls of the second drum effective to assist retention of material introduced therein as aforesaid on and its elevation by the second drum interior walls during said material movement. [Emphasis added] In Claim 6, the second drum assembly spacedly envelopes the first drum assembly.  In fact, the rules of evidence themselves exhibit greater trust in the jury by allowing the admission of judgments of prior criminal felony convictions to prove any fact essential to sustain a judgment in subsequent litigation. See Fed.R.Evid. 803(22). Evidence of prior adjudications has also routinely been allowed before a jury in complex antitrust litigation. In Emich Motors Corp. v. General Motors Corp., 340 U.S. 558, 569, 71 S.Ct. 408, 414, 95 L.Ed. 534 (1951), the Supreme Court held that parties are entitled to introduce the prior judgment to establish prima facie all matters of fact and law necessarily decided by the conviction and the verdict on which it was based.  In applying the Emich Motors rule, the Eighth Circuit recognized that what is important is that the jury be given adequate guidance to properly assess the evidence. In Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Brookside Theatre Corp., 194 F.2d 846 (8th Cir.1952), the district court allowed the offering party to read portions of the final decree, factual findings and conclusions of law from the previous decision into the record. The court of appeals saw no error, pointing out that the trial court instructed the jury that it could not base its decision simply on the prior outcome. The court repeated the trial court's jury instruction,  'In admitting these findings in evidence for your consideration, you are charged that they of themselves do not establish any fact as to the activities of these defendants ...,'  and held that the contention that the admission of this evidence constituted error was wholly without merit. Id. at 853