DISCLAIMER:  The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
                        as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.

013181P.pdf   10/24/2002  Kimberly R. Smith  v.  BMW North America
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  01-3181
                          and No:  02-1016
   Eastern District of Arkansas   
   Civil case - products liability. District court erred in excluding 
   doctor's testimony about how and when plaintiff suffered her 
   neck injury in automobile crash and in excluding doctor's 
   proposed testimony that a properly deployed air bag would 
   have reduced or prevented the injury; accident reconstructionist's 
   testimony abut principal direction of force was admissible; 
   district court did not err in excluding accident reconstructionist's 
   testimony regarding magnitude of the barrier equivalent velocity; 
   however, defendant's own evidence showed that the barrier 
   equivalent velocity of plaintiff's vehicle fell within the range 
   of values for which there is a material issue of fact as to whether 
   air bags should deploy; considering this evidence, the direction 
   of force evidence and the medical testimony concerning 
   causation, the district court erred in granting BMW's motion 
   for summary judgment.