Bland v. Davison County

[¶ 63.] I join the majority writing, with the exception of Issue 5 regarding the trial court’s decision to disallow expert opinion on industry standards. This opinion testimony was pivotal; otherwise, the jury was left in the dark about highway maintenance routines in other states. It would have been very helpful for jurors to know what standards other jurisdictions practice in dealing with chronic ice patch hazards, such as the one in this case.14

*468[¶ 64.] South Dakota’s rule on expert testimony is a verbatim rendition of the federal rule:

If scientific, technical, or other specialized…