Opinion ID: 887195
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Daubert/Kumho Tire Co. Hearing

Text: ¶ 28 Questions concerning expert testimony's reliability are threefold under Rule 702, M.R.Evid.: (1) whether the expert field is reliable, (2) whether the expert is qualified, and (3) whether the qualified expert reliably applied the reliable field to the facts. First, the district court determines whether the expert field is reliable. Second, the district court determines whether the witness is qualified as an expert in that reliable field. If the court deems the expert qualified, the testimony based on the results from that field is admissible  shaky as that evidence may be. Third, the question whether that qualified expert reliably applied the principles of that reliable field to the facts of the case is not a question for the trial court to resolve. Instead, [v]igorous cross-examination, presentation of contrary evidence, and careful instruction on the burden of proof are the traditional and appropriate means of attacking shaky but admissible evidence. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 596, 113 S.Ct. at 2798, 125 L.Ed.2d at 484; contra Fed.R.Evid. 702(3) (giving trial courts the decision whether the qualified expert witness reliably applied the reliable field to the facts). ¶ 29 The Daubert test helps determine the reliability of a field of expert methods. 509 U.S. at 592, 113 S.Ct. at 2796, 125 L.Ed.2d at 482; accord State v. Moore (1994), 268 Mont. 20, 41, 885 P.2d 457, 470. In Daubert, the United States Supreme Court adopted a four-factor test, of which the factors are neither necessary nor sufficient to determine whether the field of scientific evidence that the expert is proposing is reliable. 509 U.S. at 592-95, 113 S.Ct. at 2796-98, 125 L.Ed.2d at 482-84; accord Moore, 268 Mont. at 41, 885 P.2d at 470-71. The Supreme Court expanded this test to cover technical or other specialized expert testimony. Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 141, 119 S.Ct. at 1171, 143 L.Ed.2d at 246. ¶ 30 The Daubert test does not require a district court to determine whether the expert reliably applied expert methods to the facts. Rather, if the witness is a qualified expert in the field, he may testify. Under a Daubert analysis, the reliability of Blanco's application of his expert field to the facts is immaterial in determining the reliability of that expert field. Rule 702, M.R.Evid., did not require the District Court to hold a Daubert hearing.