Cruz-Vargas v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacc , 348 F.3d 271 ( 2003 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 02-2688
IRENE CRUZ-VARGAS, ELI ROGELIO FIGUEROA-CRUZ
AND LUIS ROGELIO FIGUEROA-CRUZ,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY,
Defendant, Appellee,
R.J.R. NABISCO, INC., NABISCO GROUP HOLDINGS,
Defendants.
ERRATA SHEET
The opinion of this Court, issued on October 28, 2003,
should be amended as follows:
1. p9, lines 12-13: Delete "prevalence of the habit," insert in
its place "difficulty of abandoning the habit"
2. p11, line 7: After citation, insert new sentence, including
moving current footnote 7 as indicated:
This rule is particularly applicable to the
"testimony of an expert witness . . . where the
testimony bears on technical questions . . . beyond
the competence of lay determination." Quintana-
Ruiz, 303 F.3d at 76-77 (quoting Webster v.
Offshore Food Serv., Inc., 434 F.2d 1191, 1193 (5th
Cir. 1970)(internal citation omitted)(ellipses in
original). This is such a case. The "common
knowledge" defense is assessed objectively [move
current fn 7 here], and, despite the nomenclature,
it is a technical question involving methods,
financing, and sources of research beyond the
competence of lay determination, at least when
pertaining to history forty or fifty years removed
from the time of trial.
3. p11, line 7: begin a new paragraph with the sentence
"Martinez' research..."