Brown v. Crown Equipment Corp.

• Decision Date: 27 October 2005
• Citation: 181 S.W.3d 268
• Parties: Charles BROWN, et al. v. CROWN EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, a/k/a Crown Equipment Corp.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

181 S.W.3d 268

Charles BROWN, et al. v. CROWN EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, a/k/a Crown Equipment Corp.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Jackson.

April 5, 2005 Session.

October 27, 2005.

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Gerson H. Smoger, Dallas, Texas, J. Brent Austin, Lexington, Kentucky, Lisa June Cox, Jackson, Tennessee, and Robert David Strickland, Martin, Tennessee, for the appellants, Charles Brown, Barbara Sue Reynolds, and Howard Reynolds.

Adam T. Sampson and Thomas J. Cullen, Jr., Baltimore, Maryland, and Shannon Edward Holbrook and William W. Dunlap, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Crown Equipment Corporation a/k/a Crown Equipment.

Andrew Lawrence Berke and Megan C. England, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the amicus curiae, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association.

OPINION

JANICE M. HOLDER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM M. BARKER, C.J., and FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, E. RILEY ANDERSON, and ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., JJ., joined.

We granted appeal in this products liability action to determine whether the trial court erred in excluding as unreliable the testimony of the plaintiffs' two expert witnesses, a mechanical engineer and a biomechanical engineer, and thereafter granting a directed verdict in favor of the defendant. We hold that the trial court erred in applying the nonexclusive list of reliability factors set out in McDaniel v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 955 S.W.2d 257 (Tenn.1997). These factors are not mandated in every case in which expert evidence is offered and should not be applied unless the factor or factors provide a reasonable measure of the expert's methodology. We further conclude that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict in favor of the defendant. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court's judgment. We remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

Charles Brown ("Mr. Brown") and Barbara Sue Reynolds ("Mrs. Reynolds") sustained injuries to their left legs while operating two different models of stand-up forklifts manufactured by Crown Equipment Corporation ("Crown"). Mr. Brown and Mrs. Reynolds brought product liability claims against Crown alleging that their injuries were caused by the defective nature of the forklifts. Mrs. Reynolds' husband, Howard Reynolds ("Mr. Reynolds"), sought compensation from Crown based upon loss of consortium.

Prior to trial, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Reynolds, and Mr. Reynolds (collectively "the plaintiffs") as well as Crown filed motions in limine seeking to preclude the opposing parties' experts from testifying at trial. The trial court denied the motions and permitted the experts of both parties to testify at trial. During trial, the plaintiffs presented the testimony of Richard Johannson ("Mr. Johannson"), a mechanical engineer, and Dr. Gerald Harris ("Dr. Harris"), a biomechanical engineer. Both Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris opined that the injuries of Mr. Brown and Mrs. Reynolds would not have occurred had Crown installed rear doors on the operator compartments of the forklifts.

At the close of Crown's proof, Crown renewed its motion to exclude the testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris and moved for a directed verdict on all issues of liability. The trial court excluded the expert testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris as unreliable under McDaniel v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 955 S.W.2d 257 (Tenn.1997). The trial court also granted Crown's motion for a directed verdict, finding that without the expert testimony the plaintiffs failed to establish that Crown was negligent or that its forklifts "were defective or unreasonably dangerous or that the forklifts were not merchantable or fit for the particular purpose for which they were manufactured."

The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. We granted review.

ANALYSIS

A. Overview of the Admissibility of Expert Testimony

Generally, questions pertaining to the qualifications, admissibility, relevancy, and competency of expert testimony are matters left to the trial court's discretion. McDaniel, 955 S.W.2d at 263. We may not overturn the trial court's ruling admitting or excluding expert testimony unless the trial court abused its discretion. Id. at 263-64. A trial court abuses its discretion if it applies an incorrect legal standard or reaches an illogical or unreasonable decision that causes an injustice to the complaining party. State v. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d 817, 832 (Tenn.2002).

Tennessee Rules of Evidence 702 and 703 govern the admissibility of expert testimony in Tennessee. Rule 702 states that "[i]f scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will substantially 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 in the form of an opinion or otherwise." Rule 703 provides:

The facts or data in the particular case upon which an expert bases an opinion or inference may be those perceived by or made known to the expert at or before the hearing. If of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the particular field in forming opinions or inferences upon the subject, the facts or data need not be admissible in evidence. The court shall disallow testimony in the form of an opinion or inference if the underlying facts or data indicate lack of trustworthiness.

The trial court, therefore, must determine that the expert testimony is reliable in that the evidence will substantially assist the trier of fact to determine a fact in issue and that the underlying facts and data appear to be trustworthy. In addition to these specific rules, evidence generally must be relevant to be admissible. See Tenn. R. Evid. 401, 402. The issue in the present case concerns the reliability of the testimony of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses, Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris.

In McDaniel, we listed several nonexclusive factors that courts could consider in determining the reliability of scientific testimony, including

(1) whether scientific evidence has been tested and the methodology with which it has been tested; (2) whether the evidence has been subjected to peer review or publication; (3) whether a potential rate of error is known; (4) whether . . . the evidence is generally accepted in the scientific community; and (5) whether the expert's research in the field has been conducted independent of litigation.

955 S.W.2d at 265; see also Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 593-94, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993) (applying the first four factors in determining the reliability of scientific expert testimony pursuant to the Federal Rules of Evidence); Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 43 F.3d 1311, 1317 (9th Cir.1995) (considering on remand the fifth factor in addition to the first four factors). The McDaniel factors also may be applied to nonscientific expert testimony. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 834; see also Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 152, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999) (holding that a trial court may consider the Daubert factors in assessing the reliability of nonscientific expert testimony in accordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence).

In addition to the McDaniel factors, we have identified other nondefinitive factors that a trial court may consider in assessing the reliability of an expert's methodology. One such factor is the expert's qualifications for testifying on the subject at issue. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 835. This factor is applicable particularly where the expert's personal experience is essential to the methodology or analysis underlying his or her opinion. We, however, caution that using this factor as the sole basis of reliability would result in a reconsideration of the Rule 702 requirement that the expert witness be qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to express an opinion within the limits of the expert's expertise. As a result, the expert testimony would become "perilously close to being admissible based upon the ipse dixit of the expert." Robert J. Goodwin, The Hidden Significance of Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael: A Compass for Problems of Definition and Procedure Created by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 52 Baylor L.Rev. 603, 635 (2000); see Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 146, 118 S.Ct. 512, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997) (cautioning against the admission of expert testimony that is connected to existing data only through the "ipse dixit of the expert"). Furthermore, the trial court should distinguish between "`the marginally-qualified full-time expert witness who is testifying about a methodology that she has not employed in real life' and `the highly credentialed expert who has devoted her life's work to the actual exercise of the methodology upon which her testimony is based.'" Sarah Brew, Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Steering the Trial Court Through a Post-Kumho Tire Evaluation of Expert Testimony, 27 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 467, 486 (2000).

Another factor that we have identified is the connection between the expert's knowledge and the basis for the expert's opinion. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 835. The purpose of this factor is to ensure that an "analytical gap" does not exist between the data relied upon and the opinion offered. Id.; see Gen. Elec. Co., 522 U.S. at 146, 118 S.Ct. 512 (holding that experts, who opined that the plaintiff's exposure to certain chemicals and toxins in the workplace contributed to his cancer, relied upon studies that either were too dissimilar to the facts of the case or failed to link the cancer with the chemical exposure). This factor is important particularly when the expert's opinions are based upon experience or observations as these areas are not easily verifiable. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 834. A trial court, however,...