Day on Torts
Plaintiff’s accident reconstructionist (Webb) in an auto defect case was deposed about his proposed testimony. Thereafter, Webb signed an errata sheet that changed four of the variables he used to make his calculations. Among the changes were a change in the angle of the subject vehicle from 22 degrees to 44 degrees and an increase in the closing speed of the vehicle from 68 miles per hour to 78 miles per hour. He said these changes did not alter his ultimate conclusion on the change of velocity (delta-v) experienced by the vehicle occupants (35 miles per hour). The plaintiff did not supplement interrogatory responses concerning the expert’s testimony but simply sent the errata sheet to the defense.
The defense denied receiving the errata sheet. The defense expert testified that the delta-v was between 55 and 67 miles per hour. All parties agreed that a crash is not survivable with a delta-v in excess of 50 miles per hour.
At trial the expert said he completed the errata sheet because he realized after his deposition that he had made some mistakes in his analysis. He did not claim that the court reporter made an errors or that the changes were made to clarify his testimony.