Opinion ID: 1295082
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Dr. Mindrum's Testimony

Text: The defendants sought to qualify Dr. Gordon M. Mindrum, a medical doctor, as an expert on the effects of pentaborane upon patients who have been exposed to it. Prior to 1965, Dr. Mindrum had participated in a study of industrial exposures of humans to pentaborane. Of the 67 persons who had been exposed to pentaborane, 20 were classified as severe cases of exposure, but all the victims were said to have no symptoms after three weeks. The defendants proffered this testimony to counter the evidence of anticipated continued psychiatric disturbances the plaintiffs had adduced. Dr. Mindrum, who is not a psychiatrist, had never examined any of the plaintiffs and did not know the extent of their exposure (or the extent of the exposure of the 20 persons in his study for that matter). He admitted that no long-term psychiatric studies had been done on the 20 persons in the study. The trial court refused to qualify Dr. Mindrum as an expert, pointing out that he was not a psychiatrist, that he had never examined any of the plaintiffs, that he had not kept up with the changes in psychiatry in the 20 years since his study, and that the evidence was speculative. Whether a witness should be permitted to express an opinion as an expert is a question within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we will not reverse a decision to exclude a proffered expert opinion unless it appears clearly that the witness was qualified. Landis v. Commonwealth, 218 Va. 797, 800, 241 S.E.2d 749, 750-51 (1978). It does not appear clearly that Dr. Mindrum was qualified as an expert in the area in which his testimony was proffered, and we find no error in the exclusion of his testimony. (C) Indemnification Texaco and Philip Morris seek indemnification from the other defendants, alleging that their liability was not predicated on active negligence. If a defendant is guilty of active negligence, he may not obtain indemnification from any other defendant. See Halliburton Co. v. Norton Drilling Co., 302 F.2d 431, 437 (5th Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 374 U.S. 829, 83 S.Ct. 1870, 10 L.Ed.2d 1052 (1963); Guarnieri v. Kewanee-Ross Corp., 270 F.2d 575, 579-80 (2d Cir.1959); Lattea, Adm'r., 9 Ohio App. 3d at 122, 458 N.E.2d at 873. The jury found that Texaco created a dangerous condition which was a proximate cause of the plaintiffs' injuries. Texaco was not held liable on a theory of vicarious liability, such as was applied in the New York case of Mauro v. McCrindle, 70 A.D. 2d 77, 419 N.Y.S.2d 710 (1979), aff'd., 52 N.Y.2d 719, 417 N.E.2d 567, 436 N.Y.S.2d 273 (1980), which Texaco cites, but rather because of its own active negligence. Therefore, Texaco is not entitled to indemnification. We have already held, as a matter of law, that Philip Morris was negligent and that the negligence was a proximate cause of the various injuries. This was active negligence and precludes any claim by Philip Morris for indemnification. Because of the foregoing rulings, we need not decide whether the trial court erred in its ruling regarding ELI's release from liability for indemnity to the other defendants. We take no notice of the trial court's rulings against Philip Morris' claim for contractual indemnity against A-Line and ELI because Philip Morris failed to assign error to those rulings. Rule 5:17(c). The assignment of error was that the court erred in ruling as a matter of law that Philip Morris was actively negligent and was therefore not permitted to recover indemnification from Texaco, A-Line and Environmental. The trial court's ruling in regard to the contractual agreement for indemnity was: The contractual indemnity claim of Philip Morris against A-Line and Environmental fail for lack of specificity in their written agreements.... The language in the contracts between Philip Morris and A-Line and Environmental lack such specific language and accordingly cannot properly be construed to impose a requirement of indemnification upon A-Line and Environmental for the negligence of Philip Morris. Philip Morris did not refer to any allegedly erroneous ruling of the trial court in construing the contract; its complaint was of an erroneous ruling holding it could not recover indemnification because it was actively negligent, as a matter of law. We hold that the assignment of error did not point out this alleged error with the required reasonable certainty. Harlow v. Commonwealth, 195 Va. 269, 271, 77 S.E. 2d 851, 853 (1953).