James Q. Holder et al. v. Westgate Resorts Ltd.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Tennessee held that the trial court properly excluded hearsay testimony from the defendant’s expert concerning instructions received from officials of the International Code Council. The Court concluded that Tennessee Rule of Evidence 703, as in effect at the time of trial, did not permit the testifying expert to present the opinion of a non-testifying expert as substantive evidence. The court vacated the Court of Appeals’ judgment and affirmed the trial court’s judgment for the plaintiffs.

Holdings

1. The trial court properly determined that the expert's statement that officials of the International Code Council confirmed his interpretation of the building code was hearsay when offered to prove the truth of the officials' interpretation.
2. Rule 703 permits an expert to base an opinion on inadmissible facts or data that are trustworthy and of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the field, but it does not permit a testifying expert to act as the mouthpiece of a non-testifying expert by parroting the other expert's opinion.
3. The version of Rule 703 in effect on the dates of trial governed; the Court of Appeals erred by applying the 2009 amendment to a trial conducted before the amendment became effective.
4. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the portions of Horner's testimony concerning the International Code Council officials' instructions or interpretation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court properly excluded as hearsay testimony by Westgate's expert concerning instructions or opinions he received from officials of the International Code Council.
2. Whether Tennessee Rule of Evidence 703 permitted the expert to testify to the substance of the non-testifying officials' opinions or instructions.
3. Whether the Court of Appeals improperly applied the 2009 amendment to Rule 703 to a trial conducted before the amendment became effective.

Disposition

vacated