Opinion ID: 1779026
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Error in limiting opinion of defense expert witness

Text: ¶ 49. Turner argues that it was error for the trial court not to allow his expert accident reconstruction witness, Lamon Griggs, to testify as to the position of the occupants in the truck. The trial court, after reviewing Griggs' curriculum vitae, ruled that he would not be allowed to testify as to the positions of the occupants in the truck or to who was driving the truck. The court found that Griggs had no expertise in that area. After Griggs' testimony at trial, the defense proffered his opinion as to the positions of the occupants in the truck and as to who was driving. He opined that Terry Moore was driving the truck at the time of the accident. The trial court stated; Let the record reflect that the Court refused to allow this testimony, that the Court accepted this witness as a witness in the field of accident reconstruction, that based upon thatallowing him to do that, the Court was of the opinion that to allow this testimony was outside his area of expertise and that I would not allow that testimony, because I was of the opinion that he was not a physicist. And because he was not qualified in the area to establish who was the driver of the automobile, I would not allow that in evidence. .... In addition, the Court did not allow him to testify as to injuries received by the occupants of the vehicle based upon the fact that he's not a medical doctor. ¶ 50. This Court has said that, [t]he admission of expert testimony is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge. Unless we conclude that the decision was arbitrary and clearly erroneous, amounting to an abuse of discretion, that decision will stand. Seal v. Miller, 605 So.2d 240, 243 (Miss.1992)(citing Hooten v. State, 492 So.2d 948, 950-51 (Miss.1986)(citing Weiss v. Louisville, N.O. & T. Ry. Co., 7 So. 390 (1890))). Turner does not assert in his brief that the trial court erred in ruling that his expert was unqualified to testify as to the driver of the truck. Rather, he asserts that because William Putt was allowed to give his expert opinion as to the driver of the truck, Turner should have been allowed to have his expert rebut Putt's opinion. Turner claims his case was prejudiced in that he was not allowed to present his theory of defense. ¶ 51. The trial court was completely within its discretion to determine that Griggs was not qualified to give this opinion. First, as discussed in Issue VII, Putt was not giving expert testimony in the form of accident reconstruction testimony. Second, Turner has cited no authority nor made any argument in support of his quid pro quo argument. Turner argues that defendants are allowed to present every lawful defense available to them, and that his right in this area was restricted. While this basic premise may be true, the trial court was not required to allow Turner's expert to testify in areas that the court found him lacking in expertise. Turner could have and did present his theory through other witnesses. The jury was well aware that Turner's contention was that he was not the driver of the truck, and that Moore was. This assignment of error is meritless, and Turner suffered no prejudice.