Opinion ID: 2038747
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: First Trial and Schafersman I

Text: The Schafersmans filed a petition in which they alleged that Agland was negligent in delivering the contaminated oats. They sought damages for lost milk production, cows lost to death or slaughter, increased labor costs, and veterinary costs. To establish that the contaminated oats had caused their cows to become ill, the Schafersmans relied on Dr. Wallace Wass' testimony, who at the time of the first trial was a professor in the department of diagnostic and production animal medicine at Iowa State University. Wass' testimony focused on the minerals that were present in the contaminated oats. For a dairy cow, a healthy diet includes the presence of several minerals, but too much of one mineral can be toxic. Several minerals were present in the contaminated oats above recommended levels. However, these levels were not above what dairy cows can tolerate. According to Wass, the aggregation of these minerals at above-normal quantities proved toxic to the cows and caused their symptoms. Wass labeled his theory multiple mineral toxicity. The trial court overruled Agland's objections to Wass' testimony, and the jury returned a $120,000 verdict for the Schafersmans. In an unpublished opinion, the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed. See Schafersman v. Agland Coop, No. A-98-623, 2000 WL 704984 (Neb. App. May 30, 2000) (not designated for permanent publication). We then granted Agland's petition for further review. We reversed, and remanded for a new trial, concluding that Wass' expert opinion testimony was not admissible. In so ruling, we applied the Frye test, which asks whether the scientific theory employed by the expert has `gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.' Schafersman I, 262 Neb. at 222, 631 N.W.2d at 870 (quoting Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923)). We determined that Wass' multiple mineral toxicity theory had not gained general acceptance within the field in which it belongs. We also concluded that the record did not provide any other basis to support Wass' opinion. Specifically, we noted Wass admitted that he had not performed a differential diagnosis, which we described as a standard scientific technique of identifying the cause of a medical problem by eliminating the likely causes until the most probable one is isolated. Schafersman I, 262 Neb. at 223, 631 N.W.2d at 871. But our conclusion that the court had erred in admitting Wass' expert opinion testimony did not end our analysis in Schafersman I. We went on to hold that the Frye test would no longer provide the means for determining the admissibility of expert opinion testimony in Nebraska. In its place, we adopted the test set out in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993), and its progeny. We held: [I]n those limited situations in which a court is faced with a decision regarding the admissibility of expert opinion evidence, the trial judge must determine at the outset, pursuant to Neb. Evid. R. 702, whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue. This entails a preliminary assessment whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is valid and whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Schafersman I, 262 Neb. at 232, 631 N.W.2d at 876-77. We went on to state that although Wass' testimony did not meet the requirements of the Frye test at the first trial, this does not necessarily preclude the Schafersmans from offering such testimony at a second trial. 262 Neb. at 232-33, 631 N.W.2d at 877.