Hucker v. City of Beaumont

147 F. Supp. 2d 565, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7844, 2001 WL 668175
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedApril 11, 2001
DocketNo. Civ.A. 1:99CV40
StatusPublished

This text of 147 F. Supp. 2d 565 (Hucker v. City of Beaumont) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hucker v. City of Beaumont, 147 F. Supp. 2d 565, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7844, 2001 WL 668175 (E.D. Tex. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COBB, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant Correctional Medical Services, Inc.’s, Motion to Limit the Testimony of Edward M. Streh-lau, R.N. [Dkt # 97], Defendant Correctional Medical Services, Inc.’s, Motion to Limit the Testimony of Jerry S. Findley [Dkt # 98], Defendant Correctional Medical Services, Inc.’s, Supplemental Motion to Limit the Testimony of Jerry S. Findley [Dkt # 105] and Defendant Correctional Medical Services, Inc.’s, Supplemental Motion to Limit the Testimony of Edward M. Strehlau, R.N. [Dkt # 106], and the Court having reviewed the motions is of the opinion that each and all of said motions be DENIED.

[567]*567I. Background.

Plaintiff claims that, on August 1, 1997, he fell and hurt his leg outside his Beaumont, Texas, home and that some time shortly thereafter, a piece of furniture in his home caught fire. The fire department and police responded and extinguished the fire, while Mr. Hucker remained outside in some pain and under the care of emergency medical technicians. An arson investigator determined that he believed the fire was purposefully set and, with the Beaumont Police, arrested Mr. Hucker and transported him to the Jefferson County Jail without taking him first for medical attention. Plaintiff Hucker alleges that he was required to crawl into the jailhouse under his own power, was initially shackled to a bench and was later incarcerated for three days before being seen by a doctor who ordered his hospitalization. He asserts that he is now wheelchair bound. He is suing the City of Beaumont, Jefferson County, Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (“CMS”), and various individuals who are either associated with the various fire and law enforcement agencies involved or are employed by CMS.

Defendants CMS and four of its employees seek to limit or strike any testimony related to Mr. Hucker’s medical diagnosis or causation of his injury by a nurse and by an emergency medical technician on the basis that they are being offered as expert witnesses and are unqualified in that capacity.

II. Form of Motions.

In the Eastern District of Texas, when allegations of fact not appearing in the record are relied upon in support of a motion, all affidavits and other pertinent documents shall be filed with the motion. Any attached materials should have the portions highlighted in the copy provided to the court, unless the citation encompasses the entire page. Only relevant, cited-to excerpts of attached materials should be attached to the motion. See E.D.Tex. Local R. CV-7(b).

CMS’ failure to comply with this regulation has made it difficult to discern how the defendants’ motions are supported. In the original motion regarding Edward Strehlau, CMS’ motion refers to Mr. Strehlau’s curriculum vitae, which was identified as “Exhibit A” to the motion. There was no Exhibit A attached to the motion. In both the original motions regarding Edward Strehlau and Jerry Find-ley, CMS makes broad assertions about those individuals’ lack of medical experience. In Mr. Findley’s case, CMS attached the entire 38-page deposition it took on January 4, 2001, without highlighting, annotation or explanation of its significance. The deposition was provided in the “multi-page” format in which four pages of deposition testimony were reproduced per page, front and back, of the attachment. This Court will not review such an entire deposition, reproduced in miniature, with a magnifying glass to glean the points CMS desires to make. In Mr. Strehlau’s case, CMS attached no supporting documentation whatsoever.

The two supplemental motions attempt to rectify this to some degree by offering a summary of statements made by the respective witnesses diming deposition, supported by the appropriate pages of deposition testimony. However, in neither instance does CMS make an argument connecting those statements to its conclusion that the witnesses are not “experts” beyond the fact that neither of them are physicians (although Mr. Find-ley is styled as “Jerry Findley, M.D.” in the proposed order attached to CMS’ motion). Apparently that is sufficient fuel, in CMS’ eyes, to assert that neither witness can be an “expert witness” in a case [568]*568involving a physical injury. Further, the pleadings are poorly worded and include several grammatical and spelling errors which significantly cloud the meaning the defendants are trying to get across. Finally, because CMS does not apply current federal law governing the admissibility of expert witnesses, the argument presented in these sloppy documents is merely conclusory.

III. Admissibility of Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony.

Federal Rule of Evidence 702 governs testimony by experts. It provides:

If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.

See Fed.R.Evid. 702 (2000). The United States Supreme Court has interpreted Rule 702 as it applies to scientific evidence and to expert testimony.

A federal judge will act as a gatekeeper to ensure that scientific evidence offered in a case is both relevant and reliable under Rule 702. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 597, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). To do so, a court will conduct a preliminary assessment of whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid and of whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Id. at 592-93, 113 S.Ct. 2786. A non-exclusive and flexible set of factors will be used to make that assessment. Id. Those factors include: (1) whether a theory or technique can (and has been) tested; (2) whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; (3) a consideration of the known or potential rate of error and the existence and maintenance of standards controlling the technique’s operation; and (4) a consideration of “general acceptance” of the theory or technique within the relevant scientific community. Id. at 593-95, 113 S.Ct. 2786.

The U.S. Supreme Court has extended the Daubert analysis to all expert testimony. In ruling on the application of Dau-bert factors and analysis to engineering testimony, the Supreme Court stated that a trial judge may consider several specific factors that might “bear on” the judge’s gate-keeping determination, including those noted swpra. See Kumho Tire Co. Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 149-50, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999). That refinement has been adopted within the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which noted that there are many kinds of experts and expertise, that the Daubert inquiry is always fact-specific, and that the Daubert factors may not all apply. See Black v. Food Lion, Inc., 171 F.3d 308

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Related

Black v. Food Lion, Inc.
171 F.3d 308 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Matthews
178 F.3d 295 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)
Munoz v. Orr
200 F.3d 291 (Fifth Circuit, 2000)
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
509 U.S. 579 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael
526 U.S. 137 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Christophersen v. Allied-Signal Corp.
939 F.2d 1106 (Fifth Circuit, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
147 F. Supp. 2d 565, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7844, 2001 WL 668175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hucker-v-city-of-beaumont-txed-2001.