SAN FRANCISCO — The federal judge overseeing civil litigation brought in the wake of Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal has excluded expert testimony offered by former FBI Director Louis Freeh.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California ruled from the bench Tuesday at the conclusion of a Daubert hearing that Freeh’s opinion wasn’t relevant to the trial set to push off in his courtroom later this month where plaintiffs who opted out of VW’s earlier civil settlement with customers will be seeking punitive damages.