Opinion ID: 2302332
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Decision to Conduct a Frye Hearing

Text: At the outset, we find Judge Colville's decision to conduct a Frye hearing concerning the any-exposure opinion to be appropriate. There is inherent tension among the various measures for admissibility of expert testimony. The threshold common law test requires merely some reasonable pretension to specialized knowledge. See, e.g., Miller v. Brass Rail Tavern, Inc., 541 Pa. 474, 480, 664 A.2d 525, 528 (1995). Our evidentiary rules, on the other hand, suggest trial courts may take a greater role in assessing whether the testimony will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, see Pa.R.E. 702, and in screening evidence to avoid unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading of the jury, see Pa. R.E. 403. For better or for worse, however, in the context of the more conventional realms of science, the Pennsylvania decisions tend to downplay the courts' screening function. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Nazarovitch, 496 Pa. 97, 101, 436 A.2d 170, 172 (1981) (`[C]ourts will go a long way in admitting expert testimony deduced from a well-recognized scientific principle or discovery[.] (quoting Frye, 293 F. at 1014)). A manifestation of this trend is that challenges generally are vetted through the Frye litmus, which winnows the field of the attacks by application of the threshold requirement of novelty. See Grady, 576 Pa. at 555, 839 A.2d at 1043-44. [32] Various reasons underlie the preference to limit the courts' involvement in determining the admissibility of scientific evidence. There is the concern that liberality in allowing challenges would substantially increase the number of challenges (and cases in which lengthy pre-trial proceedings would ensue). The competency of trial judges to accept or reject scientific theories remains a legitimate subject of controversy. Additionally, a claim or defense in many cases may rise or fall based upon expert testimony and, therefore, there is some reluctance on the part of courts to deprive litigants of their day in court. On the other hand, this Court has recognized the influential nature of expert testimony on complex subjects, and the potential that distortions have to mislead laypersons. See id. at 558, 839 A.2d at 1045; Topa, 471 Pa. at 231-33, 369 A.2d at 1281-82. It would be naïve, in this regard, to assume that the possibility for distortion is limited to the very newest realms of science. Cf. Grady, 576 Pa. at 557, 839 A.2d at 1045 (explaining that Frye applies not only to novel science, but also where scientific methods are utilized in a novel way). We therefore agree with Appellants that a reasonably broad meaning should be ascribed to the term novel. Furthermore, we conclude that a Frye hearing is warranted when a trial judge has articulable grounds to believe that an expert witness has not applied accepted scientific methodology in a conventional fashion in reaching his or her conclusions. Accord id. We believe a narrower approach would unduly constrain trial courts in the appropriate exercise of their discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence. See id. at 559, 839 A.2d at 1046. In the present case, Judge Colville was right to be circumspect about the scientific methodology underlying the any-exposure opinion. He spent considerable time listening to the attorneys' arguments but was unable to discern a coherent methodology supporting the notion that every single fiber from among, potentially, millions is substantially causative of disease. Moreover, he appreciated the considerable tension between the any-exposure opinion and the axiom (manifested in myriad ways both in science and daily human experience) that the dose makes the poison. Contrary to the perspective of the Superior Court majority, Judge Colville was not misguided in his desire to probe how Dr. Maddox could simultaneously maintain that mesothelioma is dose-responsive and that each and every fiber among millions is substantially causative. [33] As is also reflected above, the any-exposure opinion is also very significant, in that it obviates the necessity for plaintiffs to purse the more conventional route of establishing specific causation (for example, by presenting a reasonably complete occupational history and providing some reasonable address of potential sources of exposure other than a particular defendant's product). Given both the controversial nature of the any-exposure opinion and its potency in asbestos litigation, Judge Colville pursued the sensible course of permitting evidentiary development so that he could make an informed assessment. Indeed, the Superior Court majority appeared to recognize that the attempt to link low-level exposure to toxic [substances] with human disease . . . stand at the frontier of current medical and epidemiological inquiry. Betz, 998 A.2d at 982 (quoting Ferebee, 736 F.2d at 1534). It also should have appreciated, then, that the any-exposure opinion is precisely the sort of evidence that merits thoughtful inquiry, as undertaken by Judge Colville.