Pie Plate, Inc. v. Texaco, Inc

In Pie Plate, Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 35 Conn. App. 305, 645 A.2d 1044, cert. denied, 231 Conn. 935, 650 A.2d 172 (1994) the trial court precluded the testimony of the plaintiffs' expert, Dan Buzea, in the plaintiffs' case-in-chief because of a late disclosure of Buzea as an expert. "During the defendant's case-in-chief, one of the defendant's experts, Dennis Waslenchuk, relied on a report prepared by Buzea. On rebuttal, the plaintiffs offered Buzea's testimony regarding his report and his opinion regarding the source of the contamination on the basis of the report. The trial court again refused to permit Buzea to testify as an expert. The trial court did, however, grant permission for him to testify to the facts underlying his report. . . . The plaintiffs chose not to present Buzea at all." Id., 310. In Pie Plate, Inc., we stated that "the policy behind restrictions on the presentation of rebuttal testimony is that a plaintiff is not entitled to a second opportunity to present evidence that should reasonably have been presented in [its] case-in-chief. . . . We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by preventing Buzea from testifying as an expert on rebuttal. The plaintiffs had not disclosed him as a potential expert witness prior to trial. Thus, absent adequate time in which to prepare, the defendant would have been prejudiced." Id., 310-11.