Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy
Auther, a U.S. Marine, was hurt by a tire rim that separated from a wheel assembly ejected from a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) truck made by Oshkosh, due to "brake drum and brake chamber diaphragm failures." Auther asserted negligence and strict liability claims against Oshkosh grounded on the MTVR truck's design and manufacture. The court precluded testimony by Auther's purported expert Stokes who, based on a 2007 post-accident report by Oshkosh's representative Theisen opined—in an Aug. 30, 2010, report—that the subject MTVR truck was defectively designed because the PVS brake diaphragm incorporated into the brake chamber could fail. Stokes' testimony was not relevant given Oshkosh's conclusion that the root cause of the wheel separation was a split in the brake chamber diaphragm. Nor was Stokes' opinion reliable. He conceded doing nothing beyond reading reports by Oshkosh and MGM Brakes in reaching the conclusions in his report. Also, nothing showed Stokes tried to validate the conclusions reached by Oshkosh and MGM Brake, or drew upon their testing to reach his own conclusions. Nor was Stokes familiar with applicable safety codes and guidelines, or the PVS diaphragm.
