Opinion ID: 1669311
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: reasonable basis for expert opinion

Text: Ford and Quality argue, as their first point for reversal, that Dean Massey's expert witness, Larry Pipes, had no reasonable basis for his opinion that Dean's injuries were caused by a defect in the 1986 Ford Bronco at the time it was originally sold. Because of that, they contend, the trial judge erred in failing to grant their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. On review of a trial judge's denial of a motion to set aside a jury verdict on liability, the question is whether the verdict is supported by any substantial evidence. Johnson v. Clark, 309 Ark. 616, 832 S.W.2d 254 (1992); Minerva Enterprises, Inc. v. Howlett, 308 Ark. 291, 824 S.W.2d 377 (1992). The evidence most favorable to the appellee is given the benefit of all reasonably permissible inferences. Johnson v. Clark, supra ; Scott v. McClain, 296 Ark. 527, 758 S.W.2d 409 (1988). A properly qualified expert's opinion constitutes substantial evidence unless it is shown that the expert's opinion is without reasonable basis. Wallace v. Williams, 263 Ark. 702, 567 S.W.2d 111 (1978). If there is no sound and reasonable basis for expert testimony, the testimony is subject to being stricken. If, however, the cross-examination shows that the testimony has a weak or questionable basis, that goes to the weight and credibility to be given the testimony rather than to its admissibility. Ishie v. Kelley, 302 Ark. 112, 788 S.W.2d 225 (1990); Jim Paws, Inc. v. Equalization Bd. of Garland Co., 289 Ark. 113, 710 S.W.2d 197 (1986). The weight and value to be given to the testimony of expert witnesses lies within the exclusive province of the jury. B & F Engineering, Inc. v. Cotroneo, 309 Ark. 175, 830 S.W.2d 835 (1992). Whether a witness may give expert testimony rests largely within the sound discretion of the trial judge, and that determination will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Montgomery v. Butler, 309 Ark. 491, 834 S.W.2d 148 (1992). In the case before us, the expert in question, Larry Pipes, was the owner of a Missouri-based auto repair firm and an auto mechanic training and consulting firm. In Pipes's expert opinion, an internal fault in the throttle cable assembly caused the accident and injury to Dean Massey. In his examination of the vehicle, Pipes testified that he disconnected both ends of the throttle assemblywhich consists of a stainless steel cable running through a conduit, plus springs, sockets, and fittingsand manually manipulated the steel cable through the conduit. While moving the cable back and forth, Pipes stated, he felt a resistance to motion which he described as a rough spot or a stiff point and which he felt was attributable to an internal fault. He ultimately concluded that the throttle cable assembly had hung on the day of the accident after Connie pressed down on the accelerator which he described as hard or stiff and that the cable was defective when manufactured. Ford and Quality urge that Pipes's opinion contained four analytical flaws. Essentially, they urge 1) that Pipes's opinion was based on an irrelevant test, 2) that the cable had not stuck previously for 51,000 miles before the accident, 3) that Pipes's opinion was at odds with the testimony of the appellee himself, and 4) that it was contradictory to the testimony of the only witness with personal knowledge of the condition of the vehicle shortly after the accidentBobby Green, a mechanic. According to the appellants, in normal operation the cable is never pushed, as described by Pipes. Instead, it is pulled toward the passenger compartment when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal and is pulled back toward the engine by three return springs when the pedal is released. Ford's own expert, Lee Carr, a mechanical engineer, likened pushing on the cable to pushing on a rope. Although Pipes agreed, under cross-examination, that during normal operation of the vehicle, the cable is pulled rather than pushed, he asserted that the pushing test is as valid [a test] as every Board Mechanic in America would use. Moreover, he described the operation of the steel cable and conduit in great detail and testified that he had built throttle cable assemblies himself and was quite familiar with the design and materials used in the Bronco's assembly. The steel cable, he testified, was designed to move freely within the conduit when pulled toward the passenger compartment by depressing the accelerator or returned to its original position by the springs. It is the prerogative of the jury to believe or to disbelieve the testimony of any witness. Johnson v. Clark, supra ; Hodges v. Jet Asphalt & Rock Co., 305 Ark. 466, 808 S.W.2d 775 (1991). Where there is a conflict in the testimony and evidence presented by an expert, the determination by the jury of the issues is conclusive. B & F Engineering, Inc. v. Cotroneo, supra . In this case, the essential component of Larry Pipes's testimony was that he felt a rough spot or stiff point as he manually manipulated the cable through the conduit, which he attributed to an internal fault. We cannot say that this explanation was not reasonable. The jury was entitled to believe him or not. The appellants argue on a related point that even if the pushing test provides a reasonable basis for the expert's opinion, it still supplies no evidence that the presumed internal fault would cause the cable to catch during normal operation. This also was a credibility matter for the jury to assess. As Dean Massey noted, Pipes spoke with Connie Massey after the accident. Connie Massey had been clear that she was not depressing the gas pedal when the truck continued to accelerate. When an expert's testimony is based on hearsay, lack of personal knowledge does not mandate an exclusion of the opinion but instead presents a jury question concerning the weight to be attached to that opinion. Dixon v. Ledbetter, 262 Ark. 758, 561 S.W.2d 294 (1978). There was, too, additional evidence that the throttle cable had hung. A mechanic, Bobby Green, testified that the Bronco engine was revving at 2400 rpms the next day, and there was physical evidence that the Bronco had plowed through the woods for 62 feet. The appellants also emphasize that there is no evidence that the throttle cable stuck previously during the Ford Bronco's 51,000 miles of travel. Countering this, Larry Pipes testified that the life of the throttle cable should be the life of the vehicle and that in his judgment the cable was defective when manufactured and sold by Ford and that this caused the accident. His reasons for concluding that the defective cable precipitated the accident have already been stated in this opinion. Again, these were all evidentiary matters for the jury to weigh and evaluate. B & F Engineering, Inc. v. Cotroneo, supra . The appellants then point to the different construction that Pipes placed on the testimony of Bobby Green, who had driven the Bronco the morning after the accident and who found the engine revving excessively. Green testified that he had looked under the hood and saw no foreign object holding the throttle open and determined that the problem was somewhere in the fuel system. Pipes observed that if Green was looking for a foreign object, he would not have been focusing on a hung cable. We do not view the testimony of Bobby Green and Larry Pipes as irrevocably in conflict. Green, by his own admission, did not do a thorough inspection of the problem but only looked to see if something was holding the throttle open. His first thought was that the problem lay in the fuel system. Pipes's explanation is not unreasonable, and we do not view the testimony as incompatible. Finally, the appellants insist that, in order to reach the conclusion that an internal fault caused the accident, Pipes had to disregard the testimony of the only living eyewitness to the accidentthe appellee himself. Dean Massey testified that his best estimate was that the Bronco was only three feet away when the engine began to rev. The only thing which could have caused the engine to rev initially, the appellants say, was Connie Massey's depression of the accelerator pedal. At that point, as Pipes conceded, the accident had already been determined. Yet Pipes emphatically rejected Dean Massey's estimate that three feet was the actual physical distance traveled by the rapidly accelerating vehicle. I believe that's when he realized he was in peril, Pipes observed, and that's what's emblazoned in his memory. Massey himself testified that his memory of the accident was sketchy and that the estimated distances were approximations. Ford and Quality cite us to a decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals, Green v. Ford Motor Co., 195 Mich.App. 493, 491 N.W.2d 243 (1992), where the court excluded an accident reconstructionist's testimony because he was unable to reconcile inconsistencies in his own account and the eyewitnesses' accounts of an accident other than by disparaging the witnesses' powers of observation. Id. at 247. Here, however, Dean Massey admitted that his recollection was imprecise. Pipes, on the other hand, used considerable data in arriving at his opinion. He visited the scene of the accident; he examined the Bronco and studied Ford's warranty records; he interviewed Connie Massey and Bobby Green, read all the depositions, and heard all the testimony; and he examined the throttle cable assembly. Based on this, he concluded that the steel cable had hung after Connie Massey depressed the accelerator which caused the Bronco to travel 62 feet in reverse and drag Dean Massey some distance through the woods. The Arkansas cases cited by Ford and Quality provide no basis for excluding Pipes's opinion testimony. Both Sims v. Safeway Trails, Inc., 297 Ark. 588, 764 S.W.2d 427 (1989), and Little v. George Feed & Supply Co., 233 Ark. 78, 342 S.W.2d 668 (1961), deal with the testimony of accident reconstructionists. In Sims , a case involving a bus accident, the expert had never seen the bus and was relying on a former graduate student's report on the brakes. Moreover, the expert failed either to develop or to articulate an opinion regarding the cause of the collision when there was no dearth of proof relating to potential causes. Under the circumstances, we upheld the trial judge's exclusion of the expert's testimony. The present appeal, however, entails a different scenario. Here, Pipes did not agree with all of the other testimony but had the benefit of doing a comprehensive investigation before he formed his opinion. In Little v. George Feed & Supply Co., supra , the expert witness based his testimony on evidence of highway gouges obtained at the scene of a collision seven months after the accident and on an inspection of the vehicles involved after one of the vehicles had been partially dismantled. On those facts, we affirmed the trial judge's ruling of inadmissibility. In the present case, Pipes stated that he first examined the vehicle in November 1990, three months after the accident, and again in June 1991. The Bronco was still intact. In sum, we hold that there was a reasonable basis for the expert's conclusions and, thus, the trial judge was on sound footing in finding that Larry Pipes's opinion testimony constituted substantial evidence. Accordingly, the appellants' motion for judgment N.O.V. was properly denied.