Opinion ID: 1060973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the tennessee standard

Text: After examining the basic legal principles governing the admissibility of scientific evidence and the change in direction by the federal courts, we turn to Tennessee to clarify our standard of admissibility. In general, questions regarding the admissibility, qualifications, relevancy and competency of expert testimony are left to the discretion of the trial court. State v. Ballard, 855 S.W.2d 557, 562 (Tenn. 1993). The trial court's ruling in this regard may only be overturned if the discretion is arbitrarily exercised or abused. Id. The specific rules of evidence that govern the issue of admissibility of scientific proof in Tennessee are Tenn. R. Evid. 702 and 703. [8] The former provides: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will substantially assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise. And Tenn. R. Evid. 703 states: The facts or data in the particular case upon which an expert bases an opinion or inference may be those perceived by or made known to the expert at or before the hearing. If of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the particular field in forming opinions or inferences upon the subject, the facts or data need not be admissible in evidence. The court shall disallow testimony in the form of an opinion or inference if the underlying facts or data indicate lack of trustworthiness. The plaintiffs contend that the expert testimony in this case is reliable and that it will substantially assist the jury on the issue of causation. The defendant argues that irrespective of Frye or Daubert, there must be adherence to the strict requirements contained in the language of the rules and also a reasonable standard for proving causation. It contends that the plaintiffs' scientific evidence is unreliable and must be excluded. The defendant argues that an epidemiological study must show a relative risk of greater than 2.0, which several courts have said means that a disease more likely than not was caused by the specific agent or event. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 43 F.3d 1311 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 189, 133 L.Ed.2d 126 (1995); DeLuca v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 791 F. Supp. 1042 (D.N.J. 1992), aff'd, 6 F.3d 778 (3rd Cir.1993). As discussed herein, the factor is certainly relevant but we reject the contention that it should be adopted as matter of law. Although the advisory comments to Rule 702 indicate that Tennessee has followed the Frye test in analyzing the admissibility of scientific evidence, one commentator, recognizing the similarity between Tennessee Rule 702 and Federal Rule Evid. 702, has raised the question of whether the Frye test of general acceptance should be abolished in Tennessee. N. Cohen, S. Sheppeard, and D. Paine, Tennessee Law of Evidence, § 401.20 at 124, n. 233. Indeed, as the trial court in this case noted, there is some evidence of a departure from the strict adherence to the Frye test by courts in this State. [9] In our view, determining the standard for the admissibility of scientific evidence requires an analysis of the unique language found in Rules 702 and 703 of the Tennessee Rules of Evidence. For instance, Tenn. R. Evid. 702 requires that the scientific evidence  substantially assist the trier of fact, while its federal counterpart requires only that the evidence assist the trier of fact. Fed. R.Evid. 702. This distinction indicates that the probative force of the testimony must be stronger before it is admitted in Tennessee. See, e.g., Weinstein, Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence is Sound; It Should Not Be Amended, 138 F.R.D. 631, 636 (1991). Similarly, Tenn. R. Evid. 703 states that [t]he court shall disallow testimony in the form of an opinion or inference if the underlying facts or data indicate lack of trustworthiness. There is no similar restriction in the federal rule. Fed.R.Evid. 703. Thus, as one writer has observed, the additional language ... [in the Tennessee rule] is obviously designed to encourage trial courts to take a more active role in evaluating the reasonableness of the expert's reliance upon the particular basis for his or her testimony. R. Banks, Some Comparisons Between the New Tennessee Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Evidence, Part II, 20 Mem.S.U. L.Rev. 499, 559 (1990). In sum, even though the facts and data need not be admissible, they must be reviewed and found to be trustworthy by the trial court. Based on the foregoing analysis, we conclude that Tennessee's adoption of Rules 702 and 703 in 1991 as part of the Rules of Evidence supersede the general acceptance test of Frye . In Tennessee, under the recent rules, a trial court must determine whether the evidence will substantially assist the trier of fact to determine a fact in issue and whether the facts and data underlying the evidence indicate a lack of trustworthiness. The rules together necessarily require a determination as to the scientific validity or reliability of the evidence. Simply put, unless the scientific evidence is valid, it will not substantially assist the trier of fact, nor will its underlying facts and data appear to be trustworthy, but there is no requirement in the rule that it be generally accepted. Although we do not expressly adopt Daubert, the non-exclusive list of factors to determine reliability are useful in applying our Rules 702 and 703. A Tennessee trial court may consider in determining reliability: (1) whether scientific evidence has been tested and the methodology with which it has been tested; (2) whether the evidence has been subjected to peer review or publication; (3) whether a potential rate of error is known; (4) whether, as formerly required by Frye , the evidence is generally accepted in the scientific community; and (5) whether the expert's research in the field has been conducted independent of litigation. Although the trial court must analyze the science and not merely the qualifications, demeanor or conclusions of experts, the court need not weigh or choose between two legitimate but conflicting scientific views. The court instead must assure itself that the opinions are based on relevant scientific methods, processes, and data, and not upon an expert's mere speculation. See, e.g., Joiner, 78 F.3d at 530. The trial court should keep in mind that the preliminary question under Tenn. R. Evid. 104 is one of admissibility of the evidence. Once the evidence is admitted, it will thereafter be tested with the crucible of vigorous cross-examination and countervailing proof. After that occurs, a defendant may, of course, challenge the sufficiency of the evidence by moving for a directed verdict at the appropriate times. See Tenn. R. Civ. P. 50. Yet it is important to emphasize that the weight to be given to stated scientific theories, and the resolution of legitimate but competing scientific views, are matters appropriately entrusted to the trier of fact. See Joiner, 78 F.3d at 534-35 (Birch, J., concurring). We recognize that the burden placed on trial courts to analyze and to screen novel scientific evidence is a significant one. No framework exists that provides for simple and practical application in every case; the complexity and diversity of potential scientific evidence is simply too vast for the application of a single test. See Developments in the Law  Confronting the New Challenges of Scientific Evidence, 108 Harv. L.Rev. 1481, 1513-1516 (1995). Nonetheless, the preliminary questions must be addressed by the trial court, see, Tenn. R. Evid. 104, and they must be addressed within the framework of rules 702 and 703.