Opinion ID: 733243
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Substantially Same Condition

Text: 28 The district court's final concern with the proposed expert testimony was the lack of evidence to validate the condition of the 560 SEL at the time of Davidson's examination. Davidson tested the transmission parking mechanism on the automobile in January 1994, approximately one and a half years after the accident. Before Davidson's inspection, a series of engineers examined the vehicle on behalf of both Bogosian and Mercedes-Benz. At some point, the vehicle was transported to Fred's Autohaus, where it was placed on a lift; at yet some other unspecified time, the vehicle was sold to a third party. The court indicated that, given these events, Bogosian would have to present evidence sufficient to establish that the transmission mechanism was in substantially the same condition at the time of Davidson's tests as it was at the time of the accident. 29 In response to the court's concerns, Bogosian offered the testimony of her daughter, Evan Perri (the owner of the 560 SEL), who would have testified as to the physical whereabouts of the automobile during the time in question. Perri had no knowledge, however, about the tests or examinations performed during the various inspections. The court concluded that without the testimony of those who inspected the transmission before Davidson, Bogosian could not establish that Davidson's conclusions rested upon a reliable factual foundation. 30 Where, as here, a conclusion that a product was defective derives from a test or examination of it, there must be sufficient evidence to support a finding that the product was in substantially the same condition--in relevant respects--when tested as it was at the time of the accident. The absence of such a showing renders irrelevant any testimony based on the test or examination. See Kukuruza v. General Elec. Co., 510 F.2d 1208, 1211-12 (1st Cir.1975) (requiring a prima facie showing of substantial identity of the product's condition at the time of the accident and the time of inspection); cf. Fusco v. General Motors Corp., 11 F.3d 259, 263-64 (1st Cir.1993) (requiring a foundational showing of substantial similarity in circumstances between proffered demonstration and actual events). 31 Given that a number of experts examined and tested the 560 SEL in an attempt to determine why it unexpectedly rolled, the district court was warranted in requiring Bogosian to come forward with evidence sufficient to prove that those experts did not disturb the transmission mechanism in any material respect. See Williams v. Briggs Co., 62 F.3d 703, 707-08 (5th Cir.1995) (upholding exclusion of testimony about water heater malfunction where the expert conducted a test two years after the accident and after various, unspecified repairs were made); see also Romano v. Ann & Hope Factory Outlet, Inc., 417 A.2d 1375, 1379-80 (R.I.1980) (upholding, under Rhode Island evidence laws, trial court's discretionary exclusion of design-defect testimony where the expert examined the bicycle two years after the accident and after a previous expert's experiments) (collecting cases). 32 Because neither Davidson nor Perri was competent to establish the requisite similarity of condition, there was no evidentiary link between the condition of the transmission in July 1992 and in January 1994. 14 On these facts, Bogosian failed to make a prima facie showing that the condition of the transmission at the time of Davidson's testing was substantially similar to that on the accident date. Thus, we conclude that the court properly excluded Davidson's expert opinion, in part, on this basis. See Fed.R.Evid. 104(b) & advisory committee's note (concerning conditionally relevant evidence); United States v. Wilson, 798 F.2d 509, 515-16 (1st Cir.1986) (explaining that a district court enjoys broad discretion in determining the admissibility of conditionally relevant material). 15 33 In conclusion, we have considered carefully Bogosian's arguments and the record before us, and, for all of the foregoing reasons, we do not find the district court's decision to exclude Davidson's testimony to be manifestly erroneous.