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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Mattfeld v. Nester, 32 N.W.2d 291 (1948)

Citation
Mattfeld v. Nester, 32 N.W.2d 291 (1948)
Parent Document
Mattfeld v. Nester, 32 N.W.2d 291 (1948)
Jurisdiction
Minnesota (state)
Effective Date
1948-04-16

Other Sections in This Document (117)

Full Text

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Argumentative questions not only fail to elicit facts and to contribute to the ascertainment of truth, which is the only justifiable purpose of inquiry, but also they invade the province of the jury, which is to determine the facts. For example, it has been held that it is not permissible to ask a witness on cross-examination whether he is “guessing” (Burrowes v. Skibbe, 146 Or. 123, 29 P. [2d] 552); whether he swore to something he knew nothing about (Lincoln Reserve L. Ins. Co. v. Armes, 215 Ala. 407, 110 So. 818); whether he considers himself as an expert as good a judge of the matter in dispute as other experts testifying in the case (Haverhill Loan and Fund Assn. v. Cronin, 86 Mass. [Allen] 141); whether his testimony is untrue (Scott v. Dow, 162 Mich. 636, 127 N. W. 712); and the like. Likewise, a question as to whether an expert’s opinion is “speculative” contributes nothing to the inquiry, because the witness may by his answer label his opinion as “speculative,” when it is not so in any legally objectionable sense, as where it rests upon factual predicate and scientific deduction. Hiber v. City of St. Paul, 219 Minn. 87, 16 N. W. (2d) 878, supra.