Opinion ID: 1704603
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the trial court erroneously allow the State's expert to testify outside of the scope of his expertise?

Text: ¶ 30. At trial, without objection from Logan, investigator Luke was accepted as an expert in the field of vehicle identification. However, the Court of Appeals found that the trial court erroneously allowed Luke to testify outside of his area of expertise when he testified about the following issues: (1) damages and repairs to automobiles, (2) whether vehicles were repairable or were total losses, (3) whether particular rivets were factory originals or homemade, and (4) whether or not particular pieces of sheet metal had been repaired. ¶ 31. If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. Miss. R. Evid. 702. [F]ormal education is not the only means of becoming an expert in a field. A witness may qualify to give expert opinion through his experience only. Cain v. Mid-South Pump Co., 458 So.2d 1048, 1050 (Miss. 1984). A trial judge's determination as to whether a witness is qualified to testify as an expert is given the widest possible discretion and that decision will only be disturbed when there has been a clear abuse of discretion. Sheffield v. Goodwin, 740 So.2d 854, 856 (Miss.1999). ¶ 32. For 22 years, Luke worked for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, spending the last 12 of those years in the auto theft division. In 1985, he began working for the NICB. [2] Luke has been a member of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators since 1976, serving as its president in 1981. He testified that he has attended and taught numerous week long training sessions hosted by that organization, and that overall, he teaches 15 to 20 auto theft investigation schools a year to law enforcement personnel. Luke has been accepted as an expert in the field of vehicle identification in numerous court throughout Mississippi and also in federal courts in four states.