Owens v. Payless Cashways, Inc.

OPINION

BOURCIER, Justice.

In this case we consider whether G.L.1956 (1995 Reenactment) § 5-8-1, 1 mandating the registration of engineers as a prerequisite to practicing in this state, supplants judicial discretion regarding the determination of a witness’s qualifications to testify as an expert as provided by Rule 702 of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence. We hold that the statute and the rule are not in conflict and that it is within the sound discretion of the trial justice to examine the qualifications of a proffered witness and to determine that witness’s ability to testify as an expert…