Darla Smithson v. Cessna Aircraft Company, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and affirmed the trial court’s $1,200,000 judgment for Darla Smithson. It held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the deposition testimony of an undisclosed expert under the 1973 version of Rule 168, and that the trial court’s rulings on evidence of the decedent’s pilot negligence were proper. The Court also found that the appellate court erred in over‑ruling Smithson’s factual‑sufficiency point. Justice Pope’s dissent argued that Cessna should be permitted to apportion fault and that the majority’s decision unjustly leaves Cessna liable for the full judgment.