Court Opinion

ID: 9730106
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:01:25.271826+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:04.260567
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE STOUDER, specially concurring: Although I am not wholly in accord with the reasoning of the majority, I am in agreement with the result reached and join in affirming the defendant’s conviction. My only area of disagreement relates to the expert witness and his opinion that the two parts were at one time joined together. From the expert’s own previous testimony, his opinion was not based on any peculiar or particular skill not possessed by the general public. The only basis for his opinion was his observations that the two parts fit together, an inference which was the result of common observation, not expert knowledge or skill. I don’t think the testimony met the tests usually employed to determine the appropriateness of expert testimony, and indeed the majority has not cited any precedent involving any similar factual testimony. However, I think the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, both because the facts and opinion were ones readily based on common observations, and, further, no particular issue or dispute centered upon these facts.