Opinion ID: 510648
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Expert Testimony of John Sevart

Text: 22 Mrs. Roe's argument that the district court improperly excluded testimony that was to be offered by Sevart can be separated into three categories. First, Mrs. Roe asserts that the district court erred in forbidding Sevart from testifying as to the history of the development of ROPS. Second, Mrs. Roe maintains that it was error to exclude Sevart's reference to studies and statistics regarding the effectiveness of ROPS in preventing injuries resulting from vehicle rollovers. Third, Mrs. Roe claims that the district court was incorrect in sustaining objections to those questions seeking Sevart's opinion on the general effectiveness of ROPS in eliminating roll over injury, and on the specific effect on the decedent's injuries had ROPS been installed on the tractor. 23 While the district court justified its rulings on several grounds, a common thread was the court's mistaken belief that the effectiveness of ROPS was not at issue in the trial. The court noted that Deere had admitted, through its own expert witnesses, that ROPS was an effective device for the prevention of roll overs. Because the defense did not contest the issue of the effectiveness of ROPS, the district court ruled that the evidence in question did not go to what the court perceived as the ultimate issue in the case, namely, whether the tractor was defective without ROPS as standard equipment. 24 We recognize that generally decisions regarding admission of expert testimony rest within the sound discretion of the district court and will be reversed only in the event of an abuse of that discretion. Seese v. Volkswagenwerk A.G., 648 F.2d 833 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 867, 102 S.Ct. 330, 70 L.Ed.2d 168 (1981). Where, however, the district court allegedly rests its decision on a misstatement of law, we examine its ruling for legal error. In re Japanese Electronic Products, 723 F.2d 238, 277 (3d Cir.1983), rev'd on other grounds, 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1985). We emphasize that the Federal Rules of Evidence establish a liberal policy of permitting expert testimony which will aid the trier of fact. Knight v. Otis Elevator Co., 596 F.2d 84 (3d Cir.1979). Helpfulness is the touchstone of Rule 702. Breidor v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 722 F.2d 1134, 1139 (3d Cir.1983). In determining whether the district court erred by excluding the expert's testimony in this case, we examine the tendered expert testimony and the importance in the context of this case. 25 Since the matter will be retried, we need only address the excluded evidence which was offered to demonstrate the specific effect of the roll over, i.e., the extent of the injuries which would have been sustained if the tractor had been equipped with the ROPS. 5 Here, the jury heard the defense concede that the ROPS was effective in preventing serious injury, but this concession did not exclude the possibility that testimony from Sevart regarding the outcome of the accident if the tractor had been ROPS-equipped would have certainly been helpful, if not determinative. 26 In keeping with our conclusion that crashworthiness was a prominent theory in this case, we are compelled to find that refusal to permit Sevart to express an opinion concerning the extent of Gordon Roe's injuries if the tractor had been ROPS-equipped was inconsistent with a sound exercise of the court's discretion, albeit consistent with the court's misperception of Mrs. Roe's theory of recovery. 6 Sevart's evidence represented Roe's only effective means of advancing her theory of liability; its importance in the context of this case is that the evidence was paramount to proof of crashworthiness.