Tag: Expert Testimony
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Construction Expert Allowed to Opine on Repair Estimates
This matter involves an insurance claim for damages associated with hurricane Laura. On or about September 16, 2020, Plaintiff, The Pentecostal Church Of Dequincy (“TPCD”) retained a public adjuster, Chris Tremaine. Tremaine worked with Church Mutual’s field adjuster, Trey Johnson, to schedule a joint inspection of TPCD’s campus on September 30 and October 1, 2020.…
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Law Enforcement Expert Allowed to Opine on the Dynamics of Consensual Adult Sex Work
Defendants Brandon Washington and Maria Georgianna Palm are charged with various crimes arising out of their scheme to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, and maintain vulnerable women, and to perform commercial sex acts for their financial benefit via threats of force, fraud, and coercion. The government retained FBI Supervisory Special Agent Steven Vienneau to…
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History Expert’s Testimony on Discriminatory Motivations Admitted
For well over a century, the Commonwealth of Virginia has disobeyed a federal law designed to protect the right of former enslaved people to vote. When the United States started to readmit the rebellious slave states after the Civil War, Congress feared that the former Confederate powers would invent new crimes with which they could…
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Petroleum Engineering Expert’s Testimony on Offshore Rig Operations Admitted
This matter concerns an incident aboard the Valaris 144 while the vessel was performing offshore drilling services in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. Caleb Kittrell worked as a roustabout for Ensco Offshore on board the vessel owned by Rowan Offshore Luxembourg. On December 27, 2023, Kittrell was instructed to disconnect a jet…
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Law Enforcement Expert Was Allowed to Opine on Chemical Munitions
Wesley Cotton alleged that on March 19, 2022, an incident occurred on Yard 3C at California State Prison, Corcoran (“CSP-Corcoran”), in which officers deployed multiple chemical agents, including oleoresin capsicum (“OC”), chloroacetophenone (“CN”), chlorobenzalmalononitrile (“CS”) grenades (collectively, “chemical agents”) to stop a fight between third party prisoners. At the time the chemical agents were deployed,…
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Law Enforcement Expert’s Testimony on Workplace Dynamics Admitted
Solangie Acosta was a Muskegon Heights Police Department(“MHPD”) law enforcement officer between 2017 and 2022 who brought nine claims against her former employer, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, disability status, and an exercise of her worker’s compensation rights. Defendants filed a motion to preclude testimony by Acosta’s expert Wendy Patrick, a former prosecutor…
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Public Relations Expert’s Testimony on Negative Publicity Admitted
This case arises out of the tragic murder of four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Plaintiff Rebecca Scofield is a professor at the University of Idaho. She alleged that, despite never meeting any of these students or being involved with their murders in any way, Defendant Ashley Guillard posted numerous TikTok (and later…
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Mechanical Engineering Expert’s Testimony about the Defective Lawnmower Excluded
Plaintiffs Jaron and Rachel George (“Plaintiffs”) brought this subrogation action against Defendants Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (“SBD”) and MTD Products, Inc. (“MTD”) for strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty claims based on a riding lawnmower fire resulting in substantial damage to Plaintiffs’ home. Defendants filed a motion in limine to exclude one of…
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Urban Planning Expert Allowed to Opine on Municipal Zoning Practices
This case involves the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) and Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Defendant, the City of Springfield, prohibited Plaintiffs from operating a home for residents in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. Defendant claimed their zoning ordinance prohibited the home from operating in an R-SF Zone because it is a “group home” under…









