Opinion ID: 2372368
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: testimony of louis ashen

Text: Louis Ashen testified on behalf of the plaintiffs that he has been in business as an ornamental iron worker since 1954 and that he was familiar with the 1975 prices of labor and material for the installation of iron work. At the plaintiffs' request he went to the bird and mammal building and examined the barrier in front of the leopard cage. He estimated the distance to be spanned for a protection bar to be twenty-seven feet. Over objection he opined that the cost of installing a protective bar below the barrier in front of the leopard cage was less than $100. The testimony was admissible. In the face of evidence of four prior occasions where children had crawled under the barrier it was entirely appropriate for the plaintiffs to demonstrate the feasibility of precautionary measures which might have made the area safer. Delmore v. Polinsky, 132 Conn. 28, 31, 42 A.2d 349 (1945). QUALIFICATIONS OF DR. JOEL SINGER Joel Singer, a plastic surgeon, testified regarding the hereditary nature of baldness and that, if a person's father has a certain pattern of baldness, his son has a great likelihood of having the same pattern of baldness. The defendants objected on the basis that Singer was not qualified to testify in the area of baldness. The trial court overruled the defendants' objection. [2] Singer, a graduate of Yale Medical School, limits his medical practice to the specialty of plastic surgery. Instruction in the cause of baldness was part of Singer's medical training. He treats baldness in his practice and does hair transplants. The qualifications of an expert presents a preliminary question for the trial judge. Singer's background, experience and training were sufficient to support his testimony concerning the effect of future baldness on Matthew's injuries. See Hamill v. Neikind, 171 Conn. 357, 362, 370 A.2d 959 (1976). There is no error.