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Bonnette v. Conoco9/12/2001
' homes.
The Court's Inquiry into the Qualifications of Plaintiffs' Expert Witness
Conoco argues that the district court should have excluded certain of the plaintiffs' experts on Daubert grounds. The requirements of expert testimony are set forth in La.C.E. article 702. It states as follows:
f 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.
Louisiana has adopted the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which mirrors Louisiana Code of Evidence article 702. State v. Foret, 628 So.2d 1116 (La.1993); White v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 95-551 (La.App. 3 Cir. 7/17/96); 680 So.2d 1; Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786 (1993). Daubert calls upon trial courts to perform a gate-keeping function by deciding whether the expert evidence or testimony is both reliable and relevant. Daubert, 509 U.S. 588, 113 S.Ct. 2794. Appellate courts must show deference to the trial court in their evaluation of the trial judge's decision regrading the admissibility of expert testimony pursuant to La. C.E. art. 702. The Louisiana Supreme Court has stated: " trial judge has wide discretion in determining whether to allow a witness to testify as an expert, and his judgment will not be disturbed by an appellate court unless it is clearly erroneous." Mistich v. Volkswagen of Germany, Inc., 95 0939, p. 8 (La. 1/29/96) 666 So.2d 1073, 1079. Thus, a trial court's decision to accept the opinion of certain experts and to reject that of others is almost never manifestly erroneous. Tullis v. Rapides Parish Police Jury, 95-905 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/17/96); 670 So.2d 245. Manifest error is only found when the court was clearly wrong in accepting expert's opinion upon which it relied. Id.
Conoco points specifically to Dr. Millette's testimony and the chain of custody of the soil samples upon which he relied for his conclusions. The trial court stopped the direct testimony upon Conoco's objection and called Roy Scobee to the stand. The trial court then determined that there was a reliable chain of custody. Regarding Mr. Lauderdale's samplings, which Conoco protests on grounds of a lack of experience with ASTM protocol, the trial court was apparently sufficiently satisfied with his expertise in the handling of asbestos. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's decision.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court's award to plaintiffs of property damages for stigma, compensatory personal injury damages for fear of contraction of cancer and for increased risk of disease, and punitive damages under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.3. Costs of this appeal are assessed against defendant-appellant, Conoco, Inc.
AFFIRMED.
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