McCloughan v. City of Springfield

208 F.R.D. 236, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 1527, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9256, 2002 WL 1049194
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 24, 2002
DocketNo. 99-3104
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 208 F.R.D. 236 (McCloughan v. City of Springfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCloughan v. City of Springfield, 208 F.R.D. 236, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 1527, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9256, 2002 WL 1049194 (C.D. Ill. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

RICHARD MILLS, District Judge.

Curt McCloughan backed his vehicle into the personal vehicle of an off-duty Springfield police officer.

Thereafter, according to McCloughan, he was pulled from his vehicle, restrained on the ground, and then, Springfield Police Officer Daniel Patterson twice kicked him in the head causing injuries.

After the voluntary and involuntary dismissal of some of his claims, we are ready to [238]*238proceed to trial on McCloughan’s claims against Patterson for excessive use of force pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and for state law battery and against the City of Springfield under a theory of respondeat superior.

However, the Court first needs to resolve the six motions in limine which Patterson has filed and which the Court will address seriatim.

FIRST MOTION IN LIMINE

Patterson asks the Court to prohibit McCloughan from calling W. Ken Katsaris as an expert witness at trial because he does not meet the qualifications necessary to offer expert testimony in this case pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999). Specifically, Patterson argues that Katsaris’ testimony is not based upon scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge; rather, it is based upon the hearsay statements of occurrence witnesses. Patterson contends that Katsaris offers nothing more than his opinion on the credibility of these witnesses — a task which the jury is quite capable of completing without his input. Finally, Patterson asserts that Katsaris should not be allowed to offer opinions which he disclosed for the first time at his deposition because McCloughan did not disclose these opinions in his report pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) and because he is unqualified to render these opinions. Accordingly, Patterson asks the Court to preclude McCloughan from offering Kat-saris as an expert witness at trial.

McCloughan argues that Katsaris is qualified to render expert opinion testimony in this case and that the Court should allow him to offer his opinion regarding the appropriate standard of conduct of off-duty police officers and the use of force. McCloughan asserts that expert testimony on accepted police practices is admissible in § 1983 excess force cases and in any other case in which the reasonableness of police conduct is at issue. McCloughan contends that Katsaris will offer testimony on the reasonableness of Patterson’s conduct under the accepted standard of care for police officers and that Katsaris is not, contrary to Patterson’s assertions otherwise, offering any opinion(s) on the credibility of the witnesses. Accordingly, McClough-an asks the Court to deny Patterson’s first motion in limine and to allow Katsaris to offer expert opinion testimony at trial.

Federal Rule of Evidence 702 requires a district court to act as a gate-keeper in screening the admissibility of expert testimony. Kumho Tire, 526 U.S. at 147, 119 S.Ct. 1167. In Daubert, the United States Supreme Court “clarifie[d] that an expert may testify after the trial judge determines that ‘the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue.’ ” United States v. Gardner, 211 F.3d 1049, 1054 (7th Cir.2000). “Under Daubert, the first inquiry that must be undertaken is whether [the expert witness] relied upon a proper scientific methodology.... ” Walker v. Soo Line R.R. Co., 208 F.3d 581, 586 (7th Cir.2000). In making this determination, the Supreme Court directed district courts to consider, among other things:

(1) whether the theory is scientific knowledge that will assist the trier of fact and can be tested; (2) whether the theory has been subjected to peer review or publication; (3) the known or potential rate of error and the existence of standards controlling the technique’s operation; and (4) the extent to which the methodology or technique employed by the expert is generally accepted in the scientific community.

Clark v. Takata Corp., 192 F.3d 750, 757 n. 3 (7th Cir.1999), citing Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593-94, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Second, a district court “must consider whether it would have assisted the jury with a fact at issue.” Walker, 208 F.3d at 587; see Clark, 192 F.3d at 756-57 (holding that the “[application of Daubert to an expert’s proffered testimony requires the court to perform a two-step analysis. Initially, the court must determine whether the expert’s testimony is reliable, that is, whether it is based on a reliable methodology____Second, the court must decide ‘whether evidence or testimony assists [239]*239the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or in determining a fact in issue.’ ”).

Furthermore, Rule 702 makes clear than an individual may be authorized to render expert opinion testimony on an issue based upon his experience. See Fed.R.Evid. 704(a) (providing that expert opinion can be based on an inference and can embrace an ultimate issue); see also United States v. Brumley, 217 F.3d 905, 912 (7th Cir.2000) (holding that an expert’s opinion was proper because it was based on his experience, not on representing to jury that he possessed any “special knowledge”). “The Daubert inquiry is ‘a flexible one’ and is not designed to serve as a ‘definitive checklist or test,’ but rather to ensure ‘that an expert, whether basing testimony upon professional studies or personal experience, employs in the courtroom the same level of intellectual rigor that characterizes the practice of an expert in the relevant field.’ ” Bryant v. City of Chicago, 200 F.3d 1092, 1098 (7th Cir.2000) (internal citations omitted).

In the instant case, there is little question that Katsaris has extensive academic and practical experience with police and law enforcement practices. Bryant, 200 F.3d at 1098. Even a cursory review of his curriculum vitae establishes his qualifications to testify as an expert in these matters. In fact, this Court has (in a separate, unrelated case) found Katsaris to be “an expert whose qualifications are too lengthy to mention.” Armstrong v. Mudd, 655 F.Supp. 853, 858 (C.D.Ill.1987).

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Bluebook (online)
208 F.R.D. 236, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 1527, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9256, 2002 WL 1049194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccloughan-v-city-of-springfield-ilcd-2002.