Andrade Garcia v. Columbia Medical Center of Sherman, No. 3:97-CV-18.

• Decision Date: 12 March 1998
• Docket Number: No. 3:97-CV-18.
• Citation: 996 F.Supp. 617
• Parties: Mercedes ANDRADE GARCIA, Maria Teresa Galvan De Garcia, the Estate of Juan Antonio Garcia, Blanca Garcia Rojas Gregoriedes, Teresa Elizabeth Garcia Rojas, Maria Guadalupe Garcia Valdes, Yolanda Valdes Esquivel, as Next Friend of Juan Antonio Garcia Valdes, a Minor, Plaintiffs, v. COLUMBIA MEDICAL CENTER OF SHERMAN, and Bradley G. Christianson, D.O., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas

996 F.Supp. 617

Mercedes ANDRADE GARCIA, Maria Teresa Galvan De Garcia, the Estate of Juan Antonio Garcia, Blanca Garcia Rojas Gregoriedes, Teresa Elizabeth Garcia Rojas, Maria Guadalupe Garcia Valdes, Yolanda Valdes Esquivel, as Next Friend of Juan Antonio Garcia Valdes, a Minor, Plaintiffs, v. COLUMBIA MEDICAL CENTER OF SHERMAN, and Bradley G. Christianson, D.O., Defendants.

No. 3:97-CV-18.

United States District Court, E.D. Texas, Paris Division.

March 12, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Donald H. Flanary, Jr., Jenna B. Yake, Michael V. Winchester, Vial Hamilton Koch & Knox, Dallas, TX, for Mercedes Andrade Garcia, Maria Teresa Galvan De Garcia.

L. Glen Kratochvil, Ernest M. Powell, III, Kratochvil & Powell, Houston, TX, for Blanca Garcia Rojas Gregoriedes, Teresa Elizabeth Garcia Rojas.

Randy Lynn Fairless, Johanson & Fairless, Houston, TX, for Maria Guadalupe Garcia Valdes, Yolanda Valdes Esquivel, as next friend of Juan Antonio Garcia Valdes, a minor, Estate of Juan Antonio Galvan Garcia.

Cynthia Shea Goosen, Cooper Aldous & Scully, Sherman, TX, David Wayne Moorman, Moak & Moak, Huntsville, TX, for Bradley G. Christianson, DO.

Lea F. Courington, Kenneth Charles Stone, Max Edward Freeman, II, Benton Jordan Barton, Gwinn & Roby, Dallas, TX, Elizabeth D. Alvarado, Candice Eileen Sayre, Shannon Martin Finkelstein & Sayre, Houston, TX, for Medical Plaza Hosp., Inc., d/b/a Columbia Medical Plaza Hosp.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE EXPERT TESTIMONY

SCHELL, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on Defendant Columbia Medical Center of Sherman's ("Columbia") Motion to Strike Plaintiffs' Experts ("Motion to Strike"), filed on February 4, 1998.¹ Plaintiffs filed responses on January 28 and January 30, 1998.² Columbia filed a reply on January 30, 1998. Upon consideration of the motion, responses, reply, and applicable law, the court is of the opinion that Columbia's motion should be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. BACKGROUND

A discussion of the factual background of this case can be found in a previous order and will be recited here only as necessary for clarification or as needed for the disposition of the present motion. See Order of February 2, 1998, Granting in Part and Denying in Part Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint at 1-2. In its Motion to Strike, Columbia moves to strike all or part of the expert testimony of the following witnesses: Josue Martinez Carrera ("Carrera"), Daniel J. Slottje ("Slottje"), Teresa Elizabeth Garcia Rojas ("Rojas"), Eileen K. Geraci ("Geraci"), Luz Del Carmen Hernandez Diaz ("Diaz"), Eva Kassatoki ("Kassatoki"), and Mark Siegler, M.D. ("Siegler"). Columbia argues that these witnesses' expert testimony is inadmissible under one or more of the following: Federal Rules of Evidence 702 (hereinafter "Rule 702") and 403 (hereinafter "Rule 403"), TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. art. 4590i, § 14.01 (Vernon 1998) (hereinafter "Article 4590i"), and EASTERN DIST. OF TEX. LOCAL R. CV-26 (hereinafter "Local Rule 26"). The court will address Columbia's objections as to each witness in turn.³

II. THE ADMISSIBILITY OF EXPERT TESTIMONY

Because many of Columbia's objections are based on Rule 702 as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), the court must first address the applicable standards of analysis used in evaluating the admissibility of expert testimony under Rule 702. Trial courts must act as gatekeepers in determining the admissibility of expert testimony. The question of whether expert testimony will be allowed is a preliminary one which must be resolved according to the guidelines of Rule 104(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. FED. R. EVID. 104(a); Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592 n. 10. Federal district courts have a "wide latitude in determining the admissibility of expert testimony ...." Watkins v. Telsmith, Inc., 121 F.3d 984, 988 (5th Cir.1997). The "decision to admit expert testimony will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion." Carroll v. Morgan, 17 F.3d 787, 789 (5th Cir.1994).

Rule 702 allows a qualified expert to testify if "scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue." FED. R. EVID. 702. The Supreme Court has interpreted Rule 702 as requiring expert testimony to be "not only relevant, but reliable." Daubert, 509 U.S. at 589. The relevancy requirement ensures that the expert testimony will actually "assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue." Id. The reliability requirement ensures that the expert testimony is "supported by appropriate validation" and "establishes a standard of evidentiary reliability." Id. at 590.

To determine whether expert testimony is admissible under Rule 702 and Daubert, a trial court must decide pursuant to Rule 104(a) "whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific, [technical or other specialized] knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue." Id. at 592. This determination requires the court to assess "whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid and ... whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue." Id. at 593. To assist courts in this determination, the Supreme Court has suggested that trial courts examine a nonexclusive list of factors including whether a theory or technique has or can be tested, published, subjected to peer review, has or can be subjected to standards controlling its operation, the known or potential rate of error, and whether the theory or technique is generally accepted. Id. at 593-94. The Court also instructed trial courts to "be mindful of other applicable rules," such as Rules 703, 706, and 403, when determining the admissibility of expert testimony. Id. at 595.

While the Supreme Court limited its holding in Daubert to the specific scientific evidence at issue in that case, id. at 590 n .8, the Court's reasoning is applicable to any case involving expert testimony in this circuit. Indeed, in Watkins, the Fifth Circuit held:

whether an expert's testimony is based on scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge, Daubert and Rule 702 demand that the district court evaluate the methods, analysis, and principles relied upon in reaching the opinion. The court should ensure that the opinion comports with applicable professional standards outside the courtroom and that it "will have a reliable basis in the knowledge and experience of [the] discipline."

Watkins, 121 F.3d at 991 (applying Daubert to an engineering expert) (internal quotations omitted). Daubert should therefore be applied when assessing the admissibility of testimony by experts such as economists. Id; see also Marcel v. Placid Oil Co., 11 F.3d 563, 567 (5th Cir.1994) (applying Daubert to an economist); Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592 n. 11 ("[W]e do not read the requirements of Rule 702 to apply specially or exclusively to unconventional evidence.").

III. THE CONTESTED EXPERT WITNESSES IN THIS CASE

A. Carrera

1. Rule 702

Columbia first objects to the admissibility of Carrera's expert testimony under Rule 702 and Daubert. Plaintiffs assert that Columbia's objection is misplaced because they do not intend to qualify Carrera as an expert. Instead, any testimony elicited from Carrera will be offered as lay opinion testimony pursuant to Rule 701 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Thus, Plaintiffs continue, Rule 702 and Daubert are inapplicable to Carrera's testimony.

The court agrees with Plaintiffs' argument that Rule 702 and Daubert are inapplicable to lay opinion testimony. Plaintiffs have represented to the court that they will not attempt to qualify Carrera as an expert at trial, but only as a lay person qualified to give his opinions regarding Juan Antonio Garcia's ("Garcia") lifestyle and wealth. Therefore, Columbia's motion to strike Carrera as an expert witness pursuant to Rule 702 and Daubert is moot and is DENIED on that basis. However, if Plaintiffs attempt to qualify Carrera as an expert at trial, the court will entertain any properly raised objections to his qualifications as an expert at that time.

2. Rule 403

Columbia next objects to Carrera's testimony pursuant to Rule 403. Columbia contends that any opinions which Carrera might offer as to Garcia's net worth would be based upon Carrera's personal relationship with Garcia. Carrera's opinions would not be based upon scientific reasoning or methodology; therefore, the probative value of such testimony would be substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, and misleading the jury. Plaintiffs counter that Carrera's testimony is not inadmissible under Rule 403 because, while his testimony may be prejudicial to Columbia, it will not be unfairly prejudicial.

Rule 403 provides: "Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence." FED. R. EVID. 403. "Although relevant evidence is inherently prejudicial, the exclusion of such evidence under Rule 403 is allowed only when it is unfair prejudice ...." United States v. Williams, 132 F.3d 1055, 1059 (5th Cir.1998) (emphasis in original). Further, "[e]vidence is not prejudicial merely because admitting it may sway the jury against a party [and p]rejudicial cannot be equated with harmful in all cases; rather, it connotes `harmful' plus `non-probative.'" Graef v. Chemical Leaman Corp., 106 F.3d 112, 118 (5th Cir.1997).

In the present case, Columbia has not demonstrated that the probative value of Carrera's...