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FRANCIS X. WALKER,
Appellant
v.
WILLIAM GORDON, OFFICER; LEO
SIDES, OFFICER
No. 01-4106
46 Fed. Appx. 691
September 12, 2002, Submitted
Under Third Circuit LAR
34.1(a)
September 17, 2002, Filed
NOTICE: RULES OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS MAY LIMIT CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THIS CIRCUIT.
SLOVITER, Circuit
Judge.
The
appellant, Francis Walker, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,
asserting that Defendants, Upper Darby Township and its police officers,
William Gordon and Leo Sides (hereafter "the Officers"), violated his
Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force during the course of an
unlawful seizure. Prior to trial, Walker filed a Motion in Limine which sought
to preclude the testimony of
Defendants' expert psychiatrist, Dr. Toborowsky, and requested a Daubert
hearing. On October 12, 2001, after determining that the motion was comprised
of objections to the evidence upon which Dr. Toborowsky based his conclusions
rather than objections to the methodology employed, the District Court denied
the Motion in Limine, without prejudice to Walker's right to object to specific
questions at trial. The matter was tried before a jury and a verdict entered in
favor of the Defendants on October 22, 2001.
Walker
appeals the District Court's October 12, 2001 Order. Walker asserts that the
District Court erred in admitting Dr. Toborowsky's expert report and testimony
because the conclusions contained therein were unsupported. Because the
District Court correctly concluded that (a) it is for the trier of fact to
determine the weight to be accorded, and the sufficiency of, the evidence upon
which the Defendants' expert relied; and that (b) Walker's Motion in Limine
challenging the sufficiency of the evidence does not fall within the purview of
a Daubert hearing, we will affirm.
I.
On May 8,
1998, in response to a telephone call from a store employee requesting police assistance, Walker was
forcibly arrested at, or just outside, an automotive store premises and was
transported briefly [*693] to the police station, where his continued
erratic behavior led to his transportation to a local Crisis Center. Walker was
then involuntarily committed at the Crisis Center of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital,
where a Crisis Center psychiatrist, Dr. Silverman, made an initial mental
health evaluation and, shortly thereafter, Walker was treated at the Hospital's
emergency room for a broken left arm and left shoulder injuries which he
alleges were caused by the Officers' actions. Walker continued to receive
treatment at the Center through May 20, 1998.
Defendants'
expert, Dr. Toborowsky, a Board certified psychiatrist, was provided with all
of the Crisis Center records, the Hospital emergency room records, those of the
orthopaedic physician, and the Officers' depositions. In addition, Dr.
Toborowksy took a complete psychiatric history from Walker, and performed a
mental status examination. Based upon the evidence considered, Dr. Toborowsky
concluded that at the time of arrest Walker was "likely . . . grossly
psychotic" and that his ability to judge reality and his perception of
events were markedly impaired and, therefore, unreliable. R.R. at 32.
Prior to
trial, Walker filed a Motion in Limine seeking to exclude Dr. Toborowsky's
testimony and requesting a Daubert hearing. The District Court denied the
Motion based on its determination that "what [Walker was] arguing in the
Motion the failure of defendants' psychiatrist to rely on all of the evidence
in the case [did] not require a Daubert Hearing and [was] a proper subject for
cross-examination." October 12, 2001 Order. As noted above, the matter
proceeded to a jury trial, with a verdict for the Defendants entered on October
22, 2001. This appeal timely followed.
II.
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331
and 1343, and we exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our review of
the District Court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony is for abuse
of discretion, as is our review of the Court's decision regarding the
necessity of a Daubert hearing. See Kumho
Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 152, 143 L. Ed. 2d 238, 119 S. Ct.
1167 (1999).
An abuse of discretion arises if the trial court's decision
"rests upon a clearly erroneous finding of fact, an errant conclusion of
law or an improper application of law to fact" or when "no reasonable
person would [*694] adopt the district
court's view." Hanover Potato Prods., Inc. v. Shalala, 989 F.2d 123, 127
(3d Cir. 1993). The District Court has broad discretion in determining the
admissibility of evidence, and "considerable leeway" in determining
the reliability of particular expert testimony under Daubert. See Kumho Tire,
526 U.S. at 152-53.
III.
The
Defendants contend that by failing to raise any specific objections to Dr.
Toborowsky's trial testimony, Walker has waived his rights of appeal with
respect to the District Court's denial of his Motion in Limine requesting a
Daubert hearing on the admissibility of Dr. Toborowsky's evidence. Walker
responds, citing our cases holding that when the district court has
definitively denied a motion in limine, with no suggestion that the ruling was
in any way tentative or subject to reconsideration at trial, an objection at
trial is unnecessary. Walker argues that the District Court's recognition of
his right to raise specific objections at trial did not alter the unequivocal
nature of its ruling
on the motion. As we have held, any objection to the evidence when introduced
at trial "would have been in the nature of a formal exception and, thus,
unnecessary under Rule 46." Am. Home Assurance Co. v. Sunshine
Supermarket, Inc., 753 F.2d 321, 325 (3d Cir. 1985); see also Walden v.
Georgia-Pacific Corp., 126 F.3d 506, 517-18 (3d Cir. 1997) (an unsuccessful
motion in limine need not be followed by formal trial objections where (1) the
party's pretrial motion sets forth the reasons and case citations in support of
the request and (2) the court makes a "definitive" ruling with no
suggestion of reconsideration). Although we believe that it would have been
better practice to have objected to specific questions, under the circumstances
of this case we are unwilling to hold that Walker waived his objection to the
District Court's ruling.
IV.
Daubert
requires that, when faced with a proffer of expert testimony, a trial judge
determine "whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific
knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a
fact in issue." Daubert, 509 U.S. 579, 592, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469, 113 S. Ct.
2786 (1993). These gatekeeping
requirements have been extended to apply to all expert testimony. See Kumho
Tire, 526 U.S. at 147. This would include the "soft sciences," such
as psychiatry and psychology.
In
accordance with Daubert, trial courts are required to apply a reliability
analysis to an expert's opinion; that opinion is "reliable" if it is
based on the "methods and procedures of science" rather than on
"subjective belief or unsupported speculation." In re Paoli
R.R. Yard PCB Litig., 35 F.3d 717, 742 (1994) (quoting Daubert, 509 U.S. at
590). In other words, the expert must have "good grounds" for his
belief. 35 F.3d at 741-42 (explaining
how Rule 702, which governs the use of expert testimony in the federal courts,
embodies three distinct substantive restraints on the admission of expert
testimony: qualifications, reliability and fit).
[*695] In performing
its gatekeeping function, and, in particular, in deciding whether an expert's
report meets the reliability factor of a Daubert and Rule 702 analysis, the
District Court is not to weigh the evidence relied upon or determine whether it
agrees with the conclusions reached therein. To the contrary, the role of the District Court is simply to evaluate
whether the methodology utilized by the expert is reliable, i.e., whether, when
correctly employed, that methodology leads to testimony helpful to the trier in
fact. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591-93 (noting that the testimony must
"assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a
fact in issue" and that the trial court's determination "entails a
preliminary assessment of whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the
testimony is scientifically valid and of whether that reasoning or methodology
properly can be applied to the facts in issue"). Determinations regarding
the weight to be accorded, and the sufficiency of, the evidence relied upon by
the proffered expert, are within the sole province of the jury. Cf. Breidor v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 722 F.2d
1134, 1138-39 (3d Cir. 1983) ("Where there is a logical basis for an
expert's opinion testimony, the credibility and weight of that testimony is to
be determined by the jury, not the trial judge.").
In this case,
Dr. Toborowsky based his conclusions on both (a) a review of Walker's medical
and psychiatric records, including evaluations of Walker's mental health within hours of the incident in question,
and (b) a personal examination of Walker's mental status. See Paoli, 35 F.3d at
762 (concluding that either review of a patient's medical records or a personal
examination provides a sufficient reliable source of information to support medical
conclusions regarding a patient's status). Compare Padillas v. Stork-Gamco,
Inc., 186 F.3d 412, 418 (3d Cir. 1999) (concluding that trial court erred in
failing to hold Daubert hearing where expert failed to explain his opinions in
his report); Elcock v. Kmart Corp., 233 F.3d 734, 748 (3d Cir. 2000)
(concluding trial court erred in failing to hold Daubert hearing where expert
employed "admittedly unique methodological approach" based on
apparently "arbitrary admixture" of other methods).
Walker's
objections to the admission of Dr. Toborowsky's report and testimony are
expressly predicated on disagreement with the disputed evidence relied upon by
the expert, and on the assertion that conclusions derived from such evidence
are necessarily unreliable. An expert is,
[*696] nonetheless, permitted
to base his opinion on a particular version of disputed facts and the weight to be accorded to that
opinion is for the jury. It is also, as the District Court observed, a proper
subject for cross-examination. See Stecyk v. Bell Helicopter Textron,
Inc., 295 F.3d 408, 414 (3d Cir. 2002) ("Rule 705, together with Rule 703,
places the burden of exploring the facts and assumptions underlying the
testimony of an expert witness on opposing counsel during
cross-examination.").
Indeed,
even if it were appropriate for the District Court to examine the sufficiency
of the data to support an expert's conclusion, Walker concedes that Defendants'
version of the disputed facts, such as those regarding Walker's attempted
public exposure, would in fact support Dr. Toborowsky's conclusions. Again,
factual disputes are for the jury, and Walker was perfectly free to explore on
cross-examination the reliance placed by Dr. Toborowksy on the disputed facts
and to argue to the jury that, if it rejected the underlying factual premises
of his report, it should also reject Dr. Toborowsky's expert opinion on
Walker's mental state. See Stecyk, 295 F.3d at 414 ("A party confronted
with an adverse expert witness who has sufficient, though perhaps not overwhelming, facts and assumptions as
the basis for his opinion can highlight those weaknesses through effective
cross-examination.").
Accordingly,
we agree with the District Court that because Walker objected to the
application rather than the legitimacy of Dr. Toborowsky's methodology, such
objections were more appropriately addressed on cross-examination and no
Daubert hearing was required.
V.
For the reasons set forth above, we will affirm the decision of
the District Court.
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