Opinion ID: 730529
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: cross-examination of expert witness

Text: 10 Fabens asserts that the district court improperly restricted the cross-examination of the pathology expert testifying on behalf of USAir. Under the pretrial agreement by the parties, the district court ordered that no evidence on the issue of whether Porcelli was trapped in the wreckage would be presented. The expert, Bennett, concluded that Porcelli must have been unconscious at the time of her death because she did not walk away as did Mr. Simon, who sat next to her. When counsel for Fabens attempted to cross-examine Bennett regarding the possibility that Porcelli was conscious but trapped in the wreckage, he was stopped by the court. Bennett did not know whether Porcelli was trapped; therefore, the court ruled that testimony as to whether Porcelli was trapped would have been speculative. Bennett's only conclusion was that Porcelli drowned because she was knocked unconscious when the plane crashed. The district court did not err in restricting the cross-examination, because Bennett did not know the answer. Fabens has failed to demonstrate, by proffered testimony, that Bennett concluded that Porcelli had been trapped. This was not an abuse of the court's discretion. See Miller v. American President Lines, Ltd., 989 F.2d 1450, 1465 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 114 S.Ct. 304 (1993). 11 AFFIRMED.