ST. LOUIS - A federal judge has partially denied a motion to exclude the testimony of a trooper who investigated a rollover accident that resulted in a lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation.
The case stems from an Aug. 7, 2012, wreck involving Kristin Marie Smith, who sustained serious injuries after her 1997 Toyota 4Runner rolled over on Highway 6 in Lewis County, Missouri. Smith and Lloyd Smith filed a complaint in April 2016, alleging design defects partly caused the rollover. The case is scheduled to go to trial.
On April 17, Senior U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber of the Eastern District of Missouri ruled on several motions to exclude testimony filed by the defendants and the plaintiffs. Webber denied the plaintiffs' motion to exclude the “unreliable opinions” of Trooper Craig Reichart and the traffic accident report. They allege Reichart didn’t reconstruct the rollover, conduct an investigation or make specific findings regarding Kristin Smith’s steering, or conduct a detailed inspection of the seatbelt system.
The opinion also noted Reichart said he can’t remember if he looked inside the vehicle or at the seatbelt, “but assumes he did.” The plaintiffs allege that despite those admissions, Reichert offered his opinion in a deposition and crash report as to whether the rollover occurred on-road or off-road. He also offered opinions on whether Kristin Smith over-steered the vehicle prior to the rollover and whether she was wearing her seatbelt at the time.
The defendants argued that Reichert “visually inspected and surveyed the physical evidence, and based on his 10 years of experience and continuing education, he formed the opinion Ms. Smith ‘over-corrected’ after going off-road and did not buckle her seatbelt."
Webber denied the motion regarding everything in Reichart’s report except his conclusion Kristin Smith over-steered her vehicle.
“The court will withhold its ruling on the issue until the time of Trooper Reichart’s testimony,” the judge said in his opinion. “The court must be informed by defendants before seeking to introduce such evidence of his conclusion Ms. Smith over-steered.”
Webber partially granted Toyota's motion to exclude statements of “consumer safety” as being the purpose of the lawsuit. While the court will allow discussion concerning consumer safety, the plaintiffs “will not be permitted to advocate the purpose of this lawsuit to promote consumer safety.”
He also partially granted the defendant’s motion to exclude evidence regarding other similar incidents. Defendants and their experts were ordered to limit their evidence to no more than five vehicle rollovers involving the same model year vehicle. In addition, the vehicles must have over 100,000 miles of use with no modifications and the rollover must have occurred in the same topographical environment.