While state law generally governs witness competency in a civil case, federal law controls on questions relating to the qualification of expert witnesses; harmless, as the exclusion was correct under federal law and the testimony cumulative.
A finding of good cause for the substitution of an expert witness after discovery does not compel the admission of substantively different testimony form the second expert.
Referring state prison imate to medical services for special shoes was not deliberate indifference on the part of the warden.
Doctor's lack of recognition of the need for orthopedic shoes, an omission that eventually resulted in an amputaition, did not rise the level criminal recklessness needed to present an issue of deliberate indifference. Other employees similarly would not have had the requisite disregard.
CONCURRENCE/DISSENT
Nurse's testimony on the negligence of the doctor was admissible expert testimony, given her credentials and the need for a flexible, fact-specific inquiry. Given the warden's habitual follow-up inquiry with medical services, the warden had sufficient knowledge to present a genuine issue of deliberate indifference. Physician's and administrator's conduct presented a genuine issue for trial.