Opinion ID: 1894732
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standards for Admission

Text: Initially, we clarify the standards for determining whether scientific testimony will be admitted. For many years, this court and the courts of many other jurisdictions have been guided by the test enunciated in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir.1923). [1] Under this test, before testimony related to a scientific principle or discovery is admissible, the principle must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs. Id. at 1014. The necessity for such a determination is obvious. It would be impractical to place upon the trial court the sole responsibility for determining whether a scientific principle is valid. While experienced judges are perhaps better positioned than most laypersons to evaluate complex scientific data, they have not been trained to evaluate scientific principles. The Frye test does not simply elevate the opinion of the scientist over the layperson in determining the validity of scientific principles. It requires a general acceptance of the principle by those who are best equipped to evaluatethe experts in the particular scientific field. Not every scientist in a given field need embrace the principle, but a significant percentage must do so. Dismissed by some as a rather repugnant form of majoritarian head-counting, Harper v. State, 249 Ga. 519, 292 S.E.2d 389 (1982), we perceive the Frye test as requiring reasonable and necessary verification. [2] Therefore, we continue to adhere to the Frye test as controlling the issue of admissibility of evidence involving scientific principles.