Opinion ID: 863115
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: ¶3. In the case at bar, the death of Tamela Kay Watkins occurred as a result of an automobile accident involving a Toyota truck which was pulling a Ford Taurus being transported on a tow dolly. In addition to Tamela's death, other passengers in the vehicle suffered personal injuries. ¶4. On July 28, 1993, Michael Watkins and Ron Butcher were returning from Louisiana after having performed their work obligations on an oil drilling platform. Michael Watkins and Butcher were driving home in the aforementioned Ford Taurus. While driving home the Taurus suffered from mechanical problems and eventually ceased to be operational. Since Watkins could no longer drive the Taurus, he called his wife, Tamela, for assistance. ¶5. Tamela obtained Mac Watkins to travel with her to retrieve Michael Watkins, Butcher, and the Taurus. Tamela and Mac first went to U-haul and rented a U-haul tow dolly from Dykes, a U-haul dealer, so that she could bring her husband, Michael Watkins, as well as Butcher, and the Taurus home. At the time of the rental of the tow dolly, Dykes installed a hitch ball provided by Mac Watkins on the Toyota truck and attached the tow dolly with the knowledge that the dolly would carry the Taurus. Dykes performed this hook-up even though the U-haul manuals advised against it since there was a not a 750 pound weight differential. Mac Watkins and Tamela proceeded to Louisiana. ¶6. Once Mac Watkins and Tamela arrived at the location of the Taurus, Michael Watkins loaded the Taurus on the tow dolly and began an examination of the Taurus on the tow dolly and the tow dolly's connection to the truck, to make sure everything was properly loaded and attached. Michael Watkins testified that it was at this time that Mac Watkins told him to examine the hitch ball. Additionally, Watkins testified that there appeared to be only three or four threads of the nut holding onto the shank of the hitch ball, and you could stick your finger inside the nut because the shank did not come all the way through. Michael Watkins got a pipe wrench from Mac Watkins and used it to try and tighten the nut; however, the ball turned inside the coupler and would not tighten. After the examination performed by Michael Watkins, Tamela, Mac Watkins, Michael Watkins, and Butcher commenced their journey home; however, before they could reach their destination, while driving on I-55, Mac Watkins, the driver, lost control of the Toyota truck. ¶7. After the accident, both Watkins and Dykes had expert witnesses survey the accident scene and view such items as the Toyota, Taurus, the Toyota's bumper, the hitch ball, and the tow dolly which were involved in the accident. The main dispute among the experts was whether the accident was caused due to a weight differential problem and whether the nut disengaged and the hitch ball came out of the bumper on I-55 causing the accident, or whether the accident was caused due to driver error and the hitch ball became separated during a roll-over in the median. There was also some debate on whether Michael and Tamela Watkins were riding in the Taurus instead of the Toyota at the time of the accident. It is two of the expert witnesses's testimony that is the subject of this appeal. ¶8. Dykes filed a motion in limine to exclude Watkins's experts, Richard Forbes, a mechanical engineer, and Albert Medina, an accident reconstructionist, based on lack of qualification and insufficient knowledge of the facts of the case. The trial judge excluded the testimony of both Forbes and Medina. Additional facts will be discussed in the body of the opinion as needed.