(Download) "Craig Werner v. Sun Oil Company" by Court of Appeals of New York " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Craig Werner v. Sun Oil Company
- Author : Court of Appeals of New York
- Release Date : January 02, 1985
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 54 KB
Description
While a witness's qualification to testify as an expert rests in the discretion of the trial court, and its determination
will not be disturbed in the absence of serious mistake, an error of law or abuse of discretion (Meiselman v Crown Hgts. Hosp.,
285 NY 389, 398; Tarlowe v Metropolitan Ski Slopes, 28 N.Y.2d 410, 414), here the trial court improperly denied plaintiff the opportunity to lay a foundation for qualification of his witness
as an expert. In upholding the trial court's dismissal of the case at the close of plaintiff's evidence, the Appellate Division
observed that plaintiff had "failed to show that the pumps with which [the proffered expert] was familiar were similar to
the one on which plaintiff sustained his injury" (106 A.D.2d, p 570). But the trial court's ultimate refusal to permit the
witness to be asked -- until first qualified as an expert in industry practices -- whether the gas pumps with which he was
familiar used glass faces, in effect denied plaintiff an opportunity to make the requisite showing.