Opinion ID: 1960187
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the trial court erred in allowing into evidence expert opinion testimony regarding loss of future income.

Text: ¶ 25. Economist Dr. Charles Dennis testified as an expert witness about Goodman's loss of future income. A few weeks before trial, Goodman produced to APAC a spreadsheet showing Dr. Dennis's analysis and proposed testimony. After reviewing the spreadsheet, APAC requested that Goodman provide further facts to support Dr. Dennis's conclusions. Goodman failed to respond to this request until four days before trial when APAC was sent a page of footnotes which calculated Goodman's future lost income. These footnotes used the figure of $13,000 as a base salary. ¶ 26. Dr. Dennis presented new calculations of future lost income at trial because, as he explained during his testimony, counsel for Goodman presented him with a new figure for Goodman's base salary the night before. APAC objected to this testimony on two grounds: (1) Goodman did not produce the new calculations to APAC prior to trial, thereby violating the requirement of Miss. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(1)(B) to supplement discovery responses by expert witnesses in a timely manner; and (2) Goodman did not provide a proper foundation for Dr. Dennis's calculations because Goodman never produced his 1999 income tax or wage information. ¶ 27. The trial court overruled APAC's objections, and Dr. Dennis testified that Goodman earned approximately $32,000 a year pre-injury and approximately $17,000 a year post-injury. Dr. Dennis testified that it was his opinion that Goodman had future lost wages totaling $218,250. ¶ 28. Goodman's current employer, Vicksburg Ready Mix, then produced Goodman's 1999 W-2 form which showed that Goodman actually earned $23,893.22 in 1999. As Dr. Dennis had been dismissed by the court, he was not available to be re-examined and did not have the opportunity to correct his prior analysis. APAC again requested that the court strike Dr. Dennis' testimony, as it was obviously incorrect, and again the trial court denied APAC's request. ¶ 29. APAC's primary objection to Dr. Dennis's testimony on loss of future income was that an adequate foundation for his testimony had not been made. The trial court overruled all of APAC's objections, granting only a continuing objection on the basis and source of the facts from which Dr. Dennis based his opinions. During APAC's case-in-chief, and after evidence had been submitted as to the correct amount of Goodman's 1999 wages, Goodman stipulated that the figure relied upon by Dr. Dennis for projecting future lost wages was incorrect. Goodman's counsel also admitted that he never verified Goodman's 1999 income and had only estimated that figure. Despite this admission, the trial court denied APAC's motion to strike Dr. Dennis's testimony. ¶ 30. The Court of Appeals, citing Hickox v. Holleman, 502 So.2d 626, 638 (Miss.1987), recently addressed what constitutes permissible facts upon which an expert may reasonably base his opinion: [U]nder the guidelines of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence Rule 702, the trial judge serves as a gatekeeper in ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony. The Supreme Court of Mississippi has advised that [t]he facts upon which the expert bases his opinion must permit reasonably accurate conclusions as distinguished from mere guess or conjecture. Watkins v. U-Haul Int'l, Inc., 770 So.2d 970, 974 (Miss.Ct.App.2000) (citing Hickox, 502 So.2d at 638). The facts relied upon must afford a `reasonably accurate basis' for the expert's conclusion. Fielder v. Magnolia Beverage Co., 757 So.2d 925, 937 (Miss.1999). ¶ 31. The sole source for the data used in Dr. Dennis's calculations of loss of future income was Goodman's attorney, who admittedly estimated Goodman's wages for 1999. We therefore find that the data on which Dr. Dennis relied was not reasonably accurate and that his testimony should have been excluded by the trial court. The 1999 W-2 form conclusively demonstrates Goodman's 1999 income, and we can find no justification for the trial court's refusal to strike Dr. Dennis's testimony.