Opinion ID: 2025963
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Heading: Limits on Expert Opinion

Text: Expert opinion is not admissible on all issues. The question of a defendant's intent to commit a crime is not a proper subject for expert opinion, as this matter is a question of fact for the jury. Reichard v. State (1987), Ind., 510 N.E.2d 163; Seeglitz v. State (1986), Ind., 500 N.E.2d 144. [2] Moreover, an expert is not permitted to give an opinion on the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Ross v. State (1987), Ind., 516 N.E.2d 61. Expert testimony is appropriate, however, when it concerns matters that are not within the common knowledge and experience of ordinary persons and it would aid the jury. Stewart v. State (1988), Ind., 521 N.E.2d 675. Generally, the admissibility of expert testimony is a matter assigned to the discretion of the trial court; we review it on appeal only for abuse of discretion. Seeglitz, 500 N.E.2d at 147. One difference between expert witnesses and lay witnesses is that experts often base their opinions on tests which they have administered. We have held that opinions based on certain tests or procedures are admissible when the thing from which the deduction is made [is] sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs. Cornett v. State (1983), Ind., 450 N.E.2d 498, 503 (quoting Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013, 1015 (D.C. Cir.1923)). [3] Blood testing to prove paternity and DNA testing to prove identity are considered sufficiently objective and reliable to serve as a basis for expert opinion. Ind. Code § 31-6-6.1-8 (West Supp. 1991); Hopkins v. State (1991), Ind., 579 N.E.2d 1297. Other tests are not considered sufficiently reliable to be generally admissible. For example, polygraph tests are generally inadmissible because their value is highly questionable and the jury may attach undue weight to the results. Kremer v. State (1987), Ind., 514 N.E.2d 1068. Such test results are only admissible if certain prerequisites are met, including that the prosecutor, defendant, and defense counsel all sign a written stipulation providing for defendant's submission to the test and its subsequent admission at trial. Davidson v. State (1990), Ind., 558 N.E.2d 1077. Voice spectrography is another test which is generally inadmissible. Cornett, 450 N.E.2d at 503. Psychological expert opinion is most often used in cases in which a defendant's competence to stand trial or sanity is in issue, or during the penalty phase of capital cases. Corbin v. State (1990), Ind., 563 N.E.2d 86 (insanity); Miller v. State (1979), 271 Ind. 260, 392 N.E.2d 445, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1088, 100 S.Ct. 1051, 62 L.Ed.2d 776 (1980) (competency); Moore v. State (1985), 479 N.E.2d 1264, 1278, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1026, 106 S.Ct. 583, 88 L.Ed.2d 565 (1985) (death penalty). Expert opinion based on the MMPI itself has been admitted in Indiana with regard to a defendant's potential for rehabilitation. See Van Cleave v. State (1987), Ind., 517 N.E.2d 356, 361, cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1019, 109 S.Ct. 819, 102 L.Ed.2d 808 (1989). In other states such evidence has been admitted on all of the above issues. [4]