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JOHNSON v. KNOXVILLE COMMUNITY SCH. DIST.11/26/1997
hanical and industrial arts and the applied sciences.
Random House Dictionary defines one who specializes as one who pursues "some special line of study, work, etc." Specialized knowledge refers to any knowledge focused on a particular area of study, profession, or experience.
Scientific knowledge differs from technical and specialized knowledge in that it is a validation. Scientific knowledge is the process of formulating a hypothesis and then engaging in experimentation or observation to verify or falsify that hypothesis. It is this knowledge garnered from experimentation and observation that was offered as evidence in Daubert.
The rules set forth in Daubert simply are not applicable to "technical or other specialized knowledge." And the Court so stated. Fed.R.Evid. 702 has not been repealed or modified or changed in any way when it comes to admitting "technical" or other "specialized knowledge." These terms are of equal importance and on an equal footing with the phrase "scientific testimony."
Thornton, 951 F. Supp. at 577-78 (citations and footnotes omitted).
The court in Thornton goes on to declare that
the principles enunciated in Daubert should be narrowly limited to controversial and novel scientific evidence. Daubert has no other application for use in the expert field of engineering, as well as the fields of general medical issues, real estate or other types of technical subjects or those requiring specialized knowledge.
Id. at 578 (emphasis added). The court singled out auto mechanics, engineers, accountants, attorneys, DEA agents, IRS agents, real estate appraisers, and the like as those having technical knowledge and therefore not covered by Daubert. Id.
One state court, in line with Thornton, refused to apply the Daubert analysis in a medical malpractice case to expert medical testimony that, based on reasonable medical certainty, a particular treatment defendant failed to give would have been effective for the plaintiff's condition. See Reese v. Stroh, 128 Wn.2d 300, 907 P.2d 282, 286 (1995) (en banc). The court held that a conventional analysis under its rules of evidence was more appropriate because the expert's medical opinion was based on practical experience and acquired knowledge and not on some novel scientific procedure. Id.
Recently, the Ninth Circuit decided a case interpreting Daubert and restricting its application. In McKendall v. Crown Control Corp., 122 F.3d 803 (9th Cir. 1997), the plaintiff was injured while operating a stock picker to shelve cargo. He alleged defective design of the picker. He offered expert testimony of an experienced mechanical and metallurgical engineer that a safety device should have been in place. The district court granted summary judgment for defendant after excluding the proposed testimony as scientifically unreliable. The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded, holding that the Daubert analysis did not apply. The court stated:
Here, the district court presumed that for Siegel's testimony to be admissible, it must be based on "scientific" knowledge to [570 NW2d Page 639]
which the Daubert factors would apply. The district court was particularly troubled that Siegel had not built or tested the safety device he proposed. Consequently, based on Rule 702 and Daubert, the district court concluded that Siegel's testimony was not reliable and thus would not be helpful to a trier of fact.
McKendall does not contend that Siegel's testimony would withstand an application of the Daubert factors. Rather, he argues that the district court erred in applying the Daubert factors to Siegel's testimony since Siegel's
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