Runnion v. Kitts

In Runnion v. Kitts, 531 P.2d 1307, 1309 (Wyo. 1975), a highway patrolman offered expert testimony on the speed of the plaintiff's vehicle at the time of its collision with the defendant's. On appeal, the plaintiff complained the patrolman's testimony was improper because he admitted he was not an expert. The Court wrote: "With some modesty, the highway patrolman, on cross-examination, in answer to the question, 'You don't qualify yourself as an expert?', replied, 'No.' Regardless of how the witness classified himself, he did do a pretty good job and was expert, in the light of his experience and knowledge and ability to use the skid calculator tools given to him by the highway department, which had an accepted basis in accident investigation. Apparently, the jury was not impressed that he was as uninformed as the cross-examiner attempted to make him out." (Runnion v. Kitts, 531 P.2d at 1310.)