Opinion ID: 2972622
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Affidavit of Daniel Funk, M.D.

Text: Dr. Funk prepared an affidavit based on his examination of the helmet as well as the medical records and x-rays that were obtained immediately after Mohney’s injury. He opined that (a) physical evidence on the helmet and mask indicated that Mohney struck the boards in a face first position, (b) upon impact the right clip fastener (J-clip) failed, and (c) such failure contributed to a consequential flexion and rotation of Mohney’s head. The district court’s January 23, 2004, Memorandum, Opinion and Order includes the following discussion of Dr. Funk’s affidavit (emphasis added): [Bauer] also seeks to exclude the affidavits of Dr. Funk and Dr. Ramnath, arguing that to admit them is tantamount to offering expert testimony in contravention of disclosure requirements in Rule 26. Dr. Funk’s affidavit presents findings regarding the helmet-mask combination in this case and their role in causing [Mohney]’s head to torque from a face first to a crown position. This affidavit represents an attempt to buttress the opinions offered by Mr. Johanson and Dr. Collins, Plaintiffs’ retained liability experts, with testimony from an unlisted/unidentified expert witness. Thus, Dr. Funk’s affidavit is inadmissible and stricken in its entirety. Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in excluding the affidavit because Plaintiffs’ Designation of Experts filed on September 10, 2001, listed him as an expert witness (and included a copy of his affidavit and C.V.). Plaintiffs assert that a clerical problem led to the document not being put on the docket until after the district court granted summary judgment in 2004. 13 Our review of the record reveals the following. First, on February 8, 2002, the district court directed Plaintiffs to provide all outstanding expert disclosure. On February 22, 2002, Plaintiffs filed Supplemental Expert Disclosures in which Dr. Collins was listed (and Dr. Funk was not listed) as a liability expert for Plaintiffs. Second, Bauer filed a motion to strike affidavits (including that of Dr. Funk) on procedural and substantive grounds on December 19, 2002. Among the reasons to exclude Dr. Funk’s affidavit set forth in Bauer’s motion to strike affidavits were the following: (i) since the appeal of the 1999 grant of summary judgment by the district court, Plaintiffs had not utilized Dr. Funk, (ii) Dr. Funk had been replaced as a liability expert by Dr. Collins, (iii) at pre-trial conferences with the district judge, the only liability experts of Plaintiffs discussed were Dr. Collins and Johanson, (iv) in a March 18, 2002, letter, Plaintiffs’ counsel identified only Dr. Collins and Johanson as expert witnesses, and (v) by Dr. Funk’s own admission, the opinion set forth in his affidavit was an untested theory and nothing more (he had conducted no research or testing). Pursuant to a December 26, 2002, telephonic hearing, the district court struck Dr. Funk’s affidavit in its entirety.3 Third, at the Daubert hearing, the district court said “I believe in an oral order to the parties there was an indication that Dr. Funk’s affidavit had been stricken from the record[.]” In considering this issue, the district court’s rationale in the Memorandum, Opinion and Order dated January 23, 2004, appears to be technically inaccurate, as Dr. Funk clearly was listed on the September 10, 2001, Designation of Experts. The fact of the matter, however, is that the district court struck Dr. Funk’s affidavit at the December 26, 2003, hearing, long before issuing its written Memorandum, Opinion and Order. Although the parties have not produced a transcript of 3 Neither of the parties set forth the basis of the district court’s ruling from that telephonic hearing, nor has a transcript of that hearing been put in the record. 14 the December 26, 2003, hearing, any one of the grounds set forth by Bauer in its motion to strike would provide sufficient basis upon which to strike Dr. Funk’s affidavit. In addition, the district court explicitly stated that Dr. Funk’s affidavit had been excluded during the December 26, 2004, hearing at the initial day of the Daubert hearing (without objection by Plaintiffs’ counsel), prior to the issuance of the Memorandum, Opinion and Order. Accordingly, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding Dr. Funk’s affidavit.