After a full-day, in-person Daubert hearing, the Hon. Katherine Kimball Mizelle accepted the arguments made by Scott Toomey, Jim Ughetta and Keith Gibson of Littleton Park, excluded the testimony of purported helmet expert John Lloyd, Ph.D., and granted summary judgement in Knepfle v. HJC Corp. and LeMans Corp., a case pending in the United States District Court of the Middle District of Florida. Plaintiff sustained permanent and disabling brain injuries in a motorcycle-car accident after which her motorcycle helmet was reportedly found several feet from her resting position. Dr. Lloyd opined that the subject helmet’s retention system was defectively designed because the chin strap loosened in the accident, causing the helmet to detach from the plaintiff’s head during the accident sequence. Agreeing with Littleton Park, however, Judge Mizelle found Dr. Lloyd’s methodology unreliable and his opinions unsound. Without the testimony of Dr. Lloyd, the only liability expert presented by plaintiff, Judge Mizelle held that plaintiff could not prove a defect or causation and, therefore, could not sustain her case.
