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Gregory v. Kilbride6/18/2002
n. Instead, a court should look at the statute's purpose in determining whether to adopt the statutory mandate as the reasonable man standard." Baldwin v. GTE South, Inc., 110 N.C. App. 54, 57, 428 S.E.2d 857, 859-60 (1993), rev'd on other grounds, 335 N.C. 544, 439 S.E.2d 108 (1994).
The primary purpose of an involuntary commitment proceeding is to protect the person who, after due process, has been found to be both mentally ill and imminently dangerous, by placing such a person in a more protected environment where the danger may be minimized and his treatment facilitated; in a real sense the proceeding is an important step in his medical and psychiatric treatment. See In re Farrow, 41 N.C. App. 680, 255 S.E.2d 777 (1979).
In the instant case, we conclude that N.C.G.S. § 122C-263 and the related involuntary commitment statutes are not public safety statutes. The purpose of the statutes is to provide a second examination to protect the rights of the individual who is the subject of the involuntary commitment proceedings. See In re Lowery, 110 N.C. App. 67, 428 S.E.2d 861 (1993). We hold that the involuntary commitment statutes are designed to protect against arbitrary or ill-considered involuntary commitment and although there may be some "generalized safety implications" in those statutes, they are not considered public safety statutes as defined by our Supreme Court and therefore any violation thereof cannot be considered negligence per se.
IV.
Plaintiff's next argument is that the trial court erred when it granted Dr. Kilbride's motion to limit testimony that the requirements of the North Carolina Administrative Code, 10 N.C.A.C. § 15A.0129(a), had been violated. Section 15A.0129(a) provides in part: "differences of opinion . . . regarding admission, treatment or discharge issues shall be resolved through negotiation involving appropriate hospital and area program staff . . . ."
A trial court's ruling on a motion in limine is preliminary and is subject to change depending on the actual evidence offered at trial. The granting or denying of a motion in limine is not appealable. To preserve the evidentiary issue for appeal where a motion in limine has been granted, the non-movant must attempt to introduce the evidence at trial. Condellone v. Condellone, 129 N.C. App. 675, 681, 501 S.E.2d 690, 695, review denied, 349 N.C. 354, 517 S.E.2d 889 (1998).
Plaintiff contends that his experts were prepared to testify regarding the requirements of the administrative code but plaintiff failed to offer this evidence at trial. Therefore, plaintiff is not entitled to appellate review of the trial court's grant of defendant's pretrial motion in limine and the trial court's exclusion of this evidence is not properly before this Court.
V.
Plaintiff's next argument is that the trial court erred by excluding certain of plaintiff's expert witnesses while allowing defendants to call experts.
Rule 702 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence controls the admissibility of expert testimony:
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. N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 702(a) (2001).
A "trial court has wide discretion in determining whether expert testimony is admissible . . . may be reversed for an abuse of discretion only upon a showing that its ruling was so arbitrary that it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision." State v. Owen, 133 N.C. App. 543, 5
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