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Evidence — harmless error

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 16, 2014//

Evidence — harmless error

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 16, 2014//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Evidence — harmless error

Where evidence would have been cumulative, the exclusion of the evidence is not grounds for a new trial.

“Contractors Cargo points out that its experts were also barred from testifying about the precise fracture toughness values of the material at the location of the inclusion generated by the Charpy impact test. However, while the precise values of the material’s toughness would be important for establishing that the deck failed to satisfy particular Charpy toughness criteria (a theory Contractors Cargo expressly disclaims), in this case the Charpy impact test performed on the deck is only relevant to Contractors Cargo’s implied warranty claims to the extent the test shows that the material at the location of the inclusion was brittle. No dispute about the specific degree of brittleness was presented to the jury. Indeed, Contractors Cargo’s proffer does not include any attempt to show that the precise fracture toughness values of the material at the location meant that the deck would only be able to support a particular weight limit that fell below the weight limit the deck was designed to handle. Rather, Contractors Cargo’s experts merely testified that the brittleness of the material at the location of the inclusion supported the conclusion that the weld containing the inclusion was the cause and origin of the deck’s failure. Consequently, there is no significant chance that the minor evidentiary limitation imposed by the district court affected the outcome of the trial.”

Affirmed.

13-2452 Empire Bucket, Inc., v. Contractors Cargo Company

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Conley, J., Manion, J.

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