 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Jones v. Stern1/28/2005
ices which the plaintiff was capable of rendering. Id. (citing Bessire & Co. v. Day's Adm'x., 268 Ky. 87, 103 S.W.2d 644 (1937) and Sutherland on Damages, ยงยง 1248, 1249, p. 4727). Direct proof of any specific pecuniary loss is not indispensable to recovery. Id.
Upon retrial, and upon proper request by the appellant, an impairment for future earning instruction should be given.
Dr. Graham was permitted to testify on behalf of the appellees as an expert witness. The appellants contend that Dr. Graham was not qualified to testify as an expert witness on behalf of the appellees on the basis that at the time of Richard's treatment he was a business partner of Dr. Stern's; because he is a good friend of Dr. Stern's; and because he had never before testified as an expert witness.
The trial court is vested with wide discretion in determining to admit or exclude expert testimony. Video Village v. Commonwealth, 825 S.W.2d 288, 289 (Ky.App. 1992). The trial judge "has wide discretion in (the) determination to admit and exclude evidence, and this is particularly true in the case of expert testimony." Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2903, 41 L.Ed.2d 590, 615 (1974); Keene v. Commonwealth, 516 S.W.2d 852, 855 (Ky. 1974).
Dr. Graham testified that he is a general surgeon practicing in London, Kentucky. He went to undergraduate school at Michigan State University, medical school at Thomas Jefferson University, and completed his five-year surgical training residency at The University of Tennessee at Memphis.
Dr. Graham's medical training and experience were of sufficient gravity to qualify him as an expert witness. As to his past association and friendship with Dr. Stern, the appellant was free to impeach him on same, and we do not believe that this relationship required his disqualification as a witness. We conclude that the appellant's challenge to Dr. Graham's qualifications goes more toward the weight of his testimony rather than the admissibility, that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting Dr. Graham to testify as an expert, and if the appellant so chooses Dr. Graham may testify as an expert upon retrial.
The appellants also contend that the trial court erred in its assessment of costs in this case; however, as the case is being remanded for retrial and for a reapportionment of fault, we consider this issue to be moot, and we will not consider the trial court's assessment of costs on the merits.
For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the Laurel Circuit Court is reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
ALL CONCUR.
Page 1 2 3 4 Kentucky Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|