KANSAS CITY — A federal judge has largely barred a key expert from testifying against certain defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit tied to alleged abuse at a Missouri boarding school, while allowing portions of the expert’s opinions to proceed against others, according to a recent court order.
In an April 2 order, U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool granted a motion filed by Cedar County defendants to exclude all testimony from the plaintiff’s medical expert, Dr. Stephen Peterson, as it relates to Cedar County, Sheriff James “Jimbob” McCrary and Deputy Robert Graves.
The court found that Peterson’s opinions would not assist a jury in determining any role those defendants may have had in the death of Jason Britt.
The case was brought by Kathleen Britt, who alleges that the abuse her son suffered while attending Agape Boarding School from 2009 to 2010 ultimately led to his death more than a decade later.
Peterson was the plaintiff’s sole expert designated to address medical causation.
In evaluating the admissibility of Peterson’s testimony under the standards set by federal evidence rules and the Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, the court concluded that his opinions regarding Cedar County defendants were speculative and unsupported by sufficient facts.
The judge noted that Peterson’s report did not mention McCrary or Graves by name, nor did it identify specific wrongdoing by them.
During his deposition, Peterson acknowledged he had not formed definitive opinions about either individual and would need additional information before doing so.
As a result, the court ruled his testimony would not help the trier of fact and excluded it as to those defendants.
Similarly, the court found Peterson had not formed a concrete opinion that Cedar County itself caused or contributed to Jason Britt’s death.
While Peterson suggested that law enforcement returning runaway students to the school could have influenced the victim’s psychological state, he conceded that Jason Britt never attempted to escape and that his conclusions were conditional.
The court determined this did not meet the threshold for admissible expert testimony.
In addition to excluding Peterson’s testimony against Cedar County defendants, the court also struck a supplemental report he submitted after court-imposed deadlines had passed.
The judge emphasized that expert testimony must be limited to timely disclosed opinions and found the late submission improper.
However, the court reached a mixed outcome on a separate motion filed by Agape Baptist Church seeking to exclude Peterson’s testimony entirely.
While some portions of Peterson’s analysis were excluded, others were allowed to proceed.
The judge ruled that Peterson could rely on a two-and-a-half-hour interview with Jason Britt’s mother as part of his diagnostic record review, finding that such interviews are commonly used by experts in the field.
The court also allowed Peterson’s opinions that were later supported by additional medical records, noting that he had reviewed those records before his deposition and confirmed his conclusions.
At the same time, the court excluded Peterson’s reliance on newspaper articles from The Kansas City Star, determining that such sources do not constitute the type of data reasonably relied upon by experts.
References to those articles were ordered stricken from his report and barred from forming the basis of his testimony.
The court also excluded Peterson’s reliance on one academic article regarding complex trauma, finding that he failed to adequately explain how the source supported his conclusions.
However, the judge allowed Peterson to rely on other cited research, including studies linking sexual abuse to long-term psychiatric disorders and delays in reporting abuse, concluding that those sources were used appropriately to provide context rather than establish causation.
Peterson’s broader medical-causation opinions were permitted to stand, with the court finding they were based on a reliable methodology and supported by his review of medical records and professional experience.
The judge also rejected arguments that Peterson’s compensation created bias warranting exclusion, stating that his fees were reasonable and could be addressed through cross-examination at trial.
In its final ruling, the court granted the Cedar County defendants’ motion in full and granted in part and denied in part Agape’s motion, narrowing but not eliminating the scope of expert testimony that may be presented as the case proceeds.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Southern Division case number: 6:23-cv-03316
