Court Opinion

ID: 9669818
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:09:40.553717+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:00.439906
License: Public Domain

Gerrard, J.,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s determination that the district court’s order granting a new trial should be affirmed. I write separately, however, because the time has come to reexamine our analytical framework for the evaluation of expert opinion testimony.
INTRODUCTION
Judge Learned Hand observed nearly a century ago that “[n]o one will deny that the law should in some way effectively use expert knowledge wherever it will aid in settling disputes. The only question is as to how it can do so best.” Learned Hand, Historical and Practical Considerations Regarding Expert Testimony, 15 Harv. L. Rev. 40 (1901). The question posed by Judge Hand has, during the subsequent decades, repeatedly confronted appellate courts in every jurisdiction, including Nebraska.
The most significant recent developments in this area of law have resulted from the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993). In that case, the Supreme Court held that the “general acceptance” test for the admissibility of testimony about scientific evidence, as set out in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923), had been superseded by the adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Daubert, supra. The Supreme Court rejected the Frye test and redefined the standard for the admission of expert testimony in the federal courts. Id.
Subsequently, many states with evidentiary rules modeled after the Federal Rules of Evidence began to adopt the Daubert standards. See, generally, Heather G. Hamilton, The Movement from Frye to Daubert: Where do the States Stand?, 38 Jurimetrics J. 201 (1998). This court, however, has rejected the adoption of Daubert and continued to rely on the Frye test. See, State v. Carter, 246 Neb. 953, 524 N.W.2d 763 (1994), over*267ruled on other grounds, State v. Freeman, 253 Neb. 385, 571 N.W.2d 276 (1997); State v. Dean, 246 Neb. 869, 523 N.W.2d 681 (1994), cert. denied 515 U.S. 1123, 115 S. Ct. 2279, 132 L. Ed. 2d 282 (1995), overruled on other grounds, State v. Burlison, 255 Neb. 190, 583 N.W.2d 31 (1998).
In light of the subsequent development of the Daubert standards and the need to set forth a more comprehensive framework for the evaluation of expert testimony, our decisions in Carter, supra, and Dean, supra, should be reexamined.
ANALYSIS
Frye and Daubert
This court has described the Frye test as setting out a “general acceptance” test for the admissibility of testimony about scientific evidence. Carter, supra. Under the Frye test, “[W]hile courts will go a long way in admitting expert testimony deduced from a well-recognized scientific principle or discovery, the thing from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.” Frye, 293 F. at 1014.
Nebraska has relied on the Frye test where scientific evidence is concerned. See, e.g., Carter, supra. In other areas of expertise, as noted by the majority, we have simply stated that the admissibility of expert testimony is based on (1) whether the witness is qualified as an expert; (2) whether the testimony is relevant; (3) whether the testimony will assist the trier of fact; and (4) whether the probative value of the testimony, even if relevant, is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or other considerations. Seeber v. Howlette, 255 Neb. 561, 586 N.W.2d 445 (1998). Our review of the trial court’s admission or exclusion of expert testimony which is otherwise relevant will be for an abuse of discretion. See Mahoney v. Nebraska Methodist Hosp., 251 Neb. 841, 560 N.W.2d 451 (1997). In other words, while we have applied the Frye test in attempting to discern the reliability of scientific evidence, we have not required an inquiry into the reliability of testimony relating to other areas of expertise.
The abrogation of the Frye test by the Federal Rules of Evidence was recognized in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. *268Ed. 2d 469 (1993). The Daubert Court determined that the “austere” standard of general acceptance, “absent from, and incompatible with, the Federal Rules of Evidence, should not be applied in federal trials.” 509 U.S. at 589.
Instead, the Daubert Court determined that the Federal Rules of Evidence, particularly those rules specifically relating to expert testimony, Fed. R. Evid. 701 through 706, had created a new standard for the admissibility of scientific evidence. It should be noted that the Federal Rules of Evidence relating to expert testimony are essentially identical to their Nebraska counterparts. See, Neb. Evid. R. 701 through 706; Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 27-701 through 27-706 (Reissue 1995).
Under Daubert, when faced with a proffer of expert scientific testimony, a trial judge must determine at the outset whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue. This entails a preliminary assessment whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid and whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Daubert, supra.
The Court also set out a list of considerations that a trial court may use to evaluate the validity of scientific testimony. Id. These include: (1) whether the theory or technique can be, and has been, tested; (2) whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; (3) the known or potential rate of error, and the existence and maintenance of standards controlling the technique’s operation; and (4) the “general acceptance” of the theory or technique. Id. Thus, the Court did not completely sweep away the Frye test, but simply determined that it was to be one of a myriad of possible considerations in determining the validity of evidence.
The Daubert Court emphasized that this was not to be a definitive checklist, as many other factors could bear on the inquiry into validity in particular cases. The Court stated that the inquiry was to be a “flexible” one, for which the “overarching subject is the scientific validity — and thus the evidentiary relevance and reliability — of the principles that underlie a proposed submission.” 509 U.S. at 594-95. “The focus, of course, must be *269solely on principles and methodology, not on the conclusions that they generate.” 509 U.S. at 595.
Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have further developed the standards first set forth in Daubert, supra. In General Electric Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 118 S. Ct. 512, 139 L. Ed. 2d 508 (1997), the Court determined that in reviewing the evidentiary rulings of a trial court regarding expert opinion testimony, abuse of discretion is the proper standard of appellate review. Compare Doe v. Gunny’s Ltd. Partnership, 256 Neb. 653, 593 N.W.2d 284 (1999) (admission of evidence reviewed for abuse of discretion where Nebraska Evidence Rules commit evidentiary question to discretion of trial court).
In Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 141, 119 S. Ct. 1167, 143 L. Ed. 2d 238 (1999), the Supreme Court determined that “Daubert’s general holding — setting forth the trial judge’s general ‘gatekeeping’ obligation — applies not only to testimony based on ‘scientific’ knowledge, but also to testimony based on ‘technical’ and ‘other specialized’ knowledge.”
It has been written of Fed. R. Evid. 702, which is identical to Neb. Evid. R. 702, that it
applies to expert testimony involving scientific, technical, and specialized knowledge that might be helpful to a jury. These three categories of knowledge are commonly defined as follows. “Scientific knowledge” refers to the “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.” “Technical knowledge” refers to practical knowledge or special skills relating to, primarily, the mechanical or industrial arts or the applied sciences. “Specialized knowledge” is a catch-all category that refers to any knowledge focused on a particular field of study, occupation, profession, or experience.
Jay R Kesan, An Autopsy of Scientific Evidence in a Post-Daubert World, 84 Geo. L.J. 1985, 2026 (1996).
The Court made it clear that the Daubert standards were to apply not only to “scientific” knowledge but to all types of expert testimony that are admitted pursuant to rule 702. Kumho Tire Co., supra. The Court also emphasized that the list of factors for consideration set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow *270Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993), did not necessarily or exclusively apply to all experts or in every case. Kumho Tire Co., supra. The Court stated that
the trial judge must have considerable leeway in deciding in a particular case how to go about determining whether particular expert testimony is reliable. That is to say, a trial court should consider the specific factors identified in Daubert where they are reasonable measures of the reliability of expert testimony.
The trial court must have the same kind of latitude in deciding how to test an expert’s reliability, and to decide whether or when special briefing or other proceedings are needed to investigate reliability, as it enjoys when it decides whether that expert’s relevant testimony is reliable. Our opinion in [General Electric Co. v. Joiner, supra] makes clear that a court of appeals is to apply an abuse-of-discretion standard when it “review[s] a trial court’s decision to admit or exclude expert testimony.” [Citation omitted.] That standard applies as much to the trial court’s decisions about how to determine reliability as to its ultimate conclusion.
(Emphasis in original.) Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 152.
In short, under Daubert, supra, and Kumho Tire Co., supra (Daubert/Kumho Tire), analysis, a trial court must, when faced with a proffer of expert testimony, determine if the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue. This entails a preliminary assessment whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is valid, and whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Id. The conclusions of the trial court will be affirmed absent an abuse of discretion. Id.; Doe v. Gunny’s Ltd. Partnership, 256 Neb. 653, 593 N.W.2d 284 (1999).
Current State of Law
In State v. Carter, 246 Neb. 953, 524 N.W.2d 763 (1994), this court discussed two reasons for continued adherence to the Frye *271test: (1) that the Daubert standards were relatively undeveloped and uncertain and (2) that Daubert might fail to exclude unreliable “junk science.” These concerns were, at the time, entirely reasonable. The experience of the intervening years, however, has put those concerns to rest.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1993 decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993), the standards set forth in that opinion have become the majority rule in the United States in analyzing expert opinion testimony. Currently, 27 states have held that the Daubert standards are either helpful or controlling in their determinations regarding the admissibility of expert opinion evidence. See, State v. Coon, 974 P.2d 386 (Alaska 1999); Jones v. State, 314 Ark. 289, 862 S.W.2d 242 (1993); State v. Porter, 241 Conn. 57, 698 A.2d 739 (1997), cert. denied 523 U.S. 1058, 118 S. Ct. 1384, 140 L. Ed. 2d 645 (1998); Nelson v. State, 628 A.2d 69 (Del. 1993); State v. Fukusaku, 85 Haw. 462, 946 P.2d 32 (1997); McGrew v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1289 (Ind. 1997); Leaf v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 590 N.W.2d 525 (Iowa 1999); Mitchell v. Com., 908 S.W.2d 100 (Ky. 1995), overruled on other grounds, Fugate v. Com., No. 98-SC-313-MR, 1999 WL 401667 (Ky. Aug. 24, 1995); State v. Foret, 628 So. 2d 1116 (La. 1993); State v. MacDonald, 1998 Me. 212, 718 A.2d 195 (1998); Commonwealth v. Lanigan, 419 Mass. 15, 641 N.E.2d 1342 (1994); State v. Moore, 268 Mont. 20, 885 P.2d 457 (1994), abrogated on other grounds, State v. Gollehon, 274 Mont. 116, 906 P.2d 697 (1995), and City of Billings v. Bruce, 290 Mont. 148, 965 P.2d 866 (1998); State v. Hungerford, 142 N.H. 110, 697 A.2d 916 (1997); State v. Alberico, 116 N.M. 156, 861 P.2d 192 (1993); State v. Goode, 341 N.C. 513, 461 S.E.2d 631 (1995); Breding v. State, 1998 N.D. 170, 584 N.W.2d 493 (1998) (Meschke, J., concurring specially); Miller v. Bike Athletic Co., 80 Ohio St. 3d 607, 687 N.E.2d 735 (1998); Taylor v. State, 889 P.2d 319 (Okla. Crim. App. 1995); State v. O’Key, 321 Or. 285, 899 P.2d 663 (1995); State v. Morel, 676 A.2d 1347 (R.I. 1996); State v. Hofer, 512 N.W.2d 482 (S.D. 1994); McDaniel v. CSX Transp., Inc., 955 S.W.2d 257 (Tenn. 1997), cert. denied 524 U.S. 915, 118 S. Ct. 2296, 141 L. Ed. 2d 157 (1998); E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d *272549 (Tex. 1995); State v. Crosby, 927 P.2d 638 (Utah 1996); State v. Brooks, 162 Vt. 26, 643 A.2d 226 (1993); Wilt v. Buracker, 191 W. Va. 39, 443 S.E.2d 196 (1993), cert. denied 511 U.S. 1129, 114 S. Ct. 2137, 128 L. Ed. 2d 867 (1994); Springfield v. State, 860 P.2d 435 (Wyo. 1993).
Eleven states have specifically rejected Daubert, supra, in favor of retaining the standards enunciated in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923). See, Turner v. State, No. 1952024, 1998 WL 12625 (Ala. Jan. 16, 1998); State v. Tankersley, 191 Ariz. 359, 956 P.2d 486 (1998); People v. Leahy, 8 Cal. 4th 587, 34 Cal. Rptr. 2d 663, 882 P.2d 321 (1994); Flanagan v. State, 625 So. 2d 827 (Fla. 1993); Armstead v. State, 342 Md. 38, 673 A.2d 221 (1996); Gleeton v. State, 716 So. 2d 1083 (Miss. 1998); Carter, supra; State v. Harvey, 151 N.J. 117, 699 A.2d 596 (1997); People v. Wesley, 83 N.Y.2d 417, 611 N.Y.S.2d 97, 633 N.E.2d 451 (1994); Com. v. Blasioli, 552 Pa. 149, 713 A.2d 1117 (1998); State v. Copeland, 130 Wash. 2d 244, 922 P.2d 1304 (1996). Five states have rejected Daubert in favor of their own unique evidentiary standards. See, Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Baker, 237 Ga. App. 292, 514 S.E.2d 448 (1999); State v. Merwin, 131 Idaho 642, 962 P.2d 1026 (1998); Dow Chemical Co. v. Mahlum, 114 Nev. 1468, 970 P.2d 98 (1998), rehearing denied 973 P.2d 842 (1999); State v. Council, No. 24932, 1999 WL 184099 (S.C. Apr. 5, 1999); State v. Peters, 192 Wis. 2d 674, 534 N.W.2d 867 (Wis. App. 1995), review denied 537 N.W.2d 572 (Wis.).
Of the seven states that have not yet decisively addressed the question, one continues to rely on its own unique standard. See Spencer v. Com., 238 Va. 275, 384 S.E.2d 775 (1989), cert. denied 493 U.S. 1036, 110 S. Ct. 759, 107 L. Ed. 2d 775 (1990). The remaining jurisdictions continue to rely on Frye, supra. See, Brooks v. People, 975 P.2d 1105 (Colo. 1999); People v. Miller, 173 Ill. 2d 167, 670 N.E.2d 721, 219 Ill. Dec. 43 (1996), cert. denied 520 U.S. 1157, 117 S. Ct. 1338, 137 L. Ed. 2d 497 (1997); State v. Chastain, 265 Kan. 16, 960 P.2d 756 (1998); People v Peterson, 450 Mich. 349, 537 N.W.2d 857 (1995); State v. Klawitter, 518 N.W.2d 577 (Minn. 1994); Callahan v. Cardinal Glennon Hosp., 863 S.W.2d 852 (Mo. 1993).
*273It is evident, then, that in the United States, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993), has become the majority rule, and Frye, supra, has become an ever-shrinking minority view. Given the number of jurisdictions that have adopted the Daubert standards, and the extensive development of the Daubert/Kumho Tire standards in the state and federal courts, it can no longer be said that the nature and implications of Daubert/Kumho Tire are unknown. Compare State v. Carter, 246 Neb. 953, 524 N.W.2d 763 (1994).
In fact, to the extent that this consideration is still relevant, it militates in favor of adopting the Daubert/Kumho Tire standards. Nebraska courts risk losing the benefit of helpful and persuasive authority from other jurisdictions on newly presented evidentiary issues by its continued reliance on a test that is increasingly removed from the jurisprudential mainstream.
The concern about “junk science” expressed in Carter, supra, now also weighs in favor of adopting the Daubert/Kumho lire standards. The “gatekeeper” function exercised by trial courts under the Daubert/Kumho Tire analysis is, in fact, a more effective means of excluding unreliable expert testimony than is the Frye test. The experience in jurisdictions which have adopted the Daubert standards suggests that the admission of so-called “junk science” evidence is a minimal risk. As the Supreme Court of Alaska has stated:
We are not convinced that “junk science” is more likely to be admitted under Daubert than under Frye. PostDaubert reported decisions suggest that courts are acting with restraint, and are giving rigorous consideration to the reliability of scientific evidence. Furthermore, Frye also potentially permits admission of unreliable scientific evidence, because a methodology that has been generally accepted might nonetheless have been discredited during a Daubert inquiry.
State v. Coon, 974 P.2d 386, 397 (Alaska 1999).
Furthermore, there is cause to question one of the assumptions underlying this court’s decision in Carter, supra: that the Frye test provides a more critical assessment of the reliability of *274proffered evidence than does the Daubert analysis. See Carter, supra. As the Supreme Court of Alaska noted:
Frye is potentially capricious because it excludes scientifically reliable evidence which is not yet generally accepted, and admits scientifically unreliable evidence which although generally accepted, cannot meet rigorous scientific scrutiny. Because the Frye test potentially excludes evidence that should be admitted under our rules, and also potentially admits evidence that should be excluded under our rules, we conclude that it is both unduly restrictive and unduly permissive.
Coon, 974 P.2d at 393-94.
In practice, in other jurisdictions, the Daubert standards have proved to be more accepting of newly developed but well-reasoned theories, but more critical of older, more well-established theories that are vulnerable to a searching inquiry. As one writer has noted:
To say that Daubert is less restrictive of expert evidence, to say that it opens the door for the introduction of expert evidence that would not have been admissible under the Frye test, is not to say that Daubert’s test is an easier test. It may be more lenient in that it allows more — and more novel — science into evidence, but it can be much more difficult in that the Daubert test can require a more exacting, expensive, and time consuming foundation.
“On the one hand, more science comes in. Science does not have to be generally accepted by other scientists to be admissible in court; the universe of admissible science is expanded by doing away with the general acceptance requirement. On the other hand, less science comes in. The trial judge is to act as gatekeeper and is to scrutinize carefully the proffered scientific evidence and to keep out what is not good science. The universe of science actually admitted may be contracted by the close scrutiny judges are supposed to give this evidence. While it may be that most science generally accepted in the relevant scientific community will be good science, it is not necessarily so.”
*275(Citation omitted.) G. Michael Fenner, The Daubert Handbook: The Case, Its Essential Dilemma, and Its Progeny, 29 Creighton L. Rev. 939, 953 (1996). See, also, Williams v. Hedican, 561 N.W.2d 817 (Iowa 1997).
As Professor Fenner states, the shift from Frye to Daubert/Kumho Tire allows the admission of more expert testimonial evidence, but specifically forecloses the admission of testimony that is unreliable. Under the Daubert/Kumho Tire analysis, the question is not whether the evidence is generally accepted, but whether the evidence is, in fact, reliable. This gatekeeper function, in my opinion, provides a more effective way of ensuring that unreliable testimony is properly excluded from evidence.
The gatekeeper function is particularly important in light of the inordinate weight and deference that jurors are often inclined to afford expert testimony. See, generally, Daniel W. Shuman et al., Assessing the Believability of Expert Witnesses: Science in the Jury box, 37 Jurimetrics J. 23 (1996); Daniel W. Shuman et al., Juror Assessments of the Believability of Expert Witnesses: A Literature Review, 36 Jurimetrics J. 371 (1996). The Supreme Court of Connecticut has stated that
a gatekeeping role for trial judges in relation to scientific evidence is appropriate. Although the extent to which juries give scientific evidence undue deference is uncertain, the potential risk can be greatly reduced simply by allowing the judge, as the participant in the judicial process with both the greater access and ability to gather relevant information, to exclude wholly invalid scientific testimony altogether. Moreover, a trial judge who does admit scientific evidence will be in a better position, by virtue of the knowledge gained during the preliminary assessment, to conduct the trial and instruct the jury in such a way as to minimize the risk that jurors will give that evidence undue deference.
State v. Porter, 241 Conn. 57, 73, 698 A.2d 739, 749 (1997).
The court in State v. Carter, 246 Neb. 953, 524 N.W.2d 763 (1994), noted that one of the primary objectives of the Frye test was to shield jurors from misleading or prejudicial scientific testimony because of the weight and deference generally accorded *276by jurors to expert testimony. As the Supreme Court of Connecticut observed, the gatekeeper function of the trial court performing the Daubert/Kumho Tire analysis accomplishes this goal more effectively than does the Frye test.
Moreover, as the U.S. Supreme Court noted in Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael 526 U.S. 137, 119 S. Ct. 1167, 143 L. Ed. 2d 238 (1999), this gatekeeper function for the trial court retains its utility and imperative regardless of whether the testimony at issue is “scientific” or otherwise. The evidentiary rationale that underlies the Daubert/Kumho Tire gatekeeping responsibility is not limited to scientific knowledge. As the Court stated,
it would prove difficult, if not impossible, for judges to administer evidentiary rules under which a gatekeeping obligation depended upon a distinction between “scientific” knowledge and “technical” or “other specialized” knowledge. There is no clear line that divides the one from the others. . . .
Neither is there a convincing need to make such distinctions. Experts of all kinds tie observations to conclusions through the use of what Judge Learned Hand called “general truths derived from .. . specialized experience.” Hand, Historical and Practical Considerations Regarding Expert Testimony, 15 Harv. L. Rev. 40, 54 (1901). And whether the specific expert testimony focuses upon specialized observations, the specialized translation of those observations into theory, a specialized theory itself, or the application of such a theory in a particular case, the expert’s testimony will often rest “upon an experience confessedly foreign in kind to [the jury’s] own.” Ibid. The trial judge’s effort to assure that the specialized testimony is reliable and relevant can help the jury evaluate that foreign experience, whether the testimony reflects scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge.
Kumho Tire Co., 119 S. Ct. at 1174-75.
Despite the evident wisdom of applying the trial court’s gatekeeper function to all varieties of specialized expert testimony, Nebraska’s reliance on the Frye test and the limitation of that test to scientific evidence precludes the trial court from acting as *277gatekeeper where technical or other specialized knowledge is concerned. Adoption of the Daubert/Kumho Tire standards, on the other hand, both encourages the trial court to act as gatekeeper and places that function in the context of a sensible and uniform scheme for the evaluation of all types of expert opinion testimony.
Finally, as was noted in the Daubert opinion, Fed. R. Evid. 702, which is identical to § 27-702, does not establish “ ‘general acceptance’ as an absolute prerequisite to admissibility,” and “a rigid ‘general acceptance’ requirement would be at odds with the ‘liberal thrust’ of the [rules of evidence] and their ‘general approach of relaxing the traditional barriers to “opinion” testimony.’” Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 588, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993). While the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of a federal statute is not binding with reference to a state statute, State v. Carter, 246 Neb. 953, 524 N.W.2d 763 (1994), it is persuasive where the state statute is identical to the federal law at issue. In this instance, I believe that the U.S. Supreme Court was correct in noting the tension between rule 702 and the Frye test and that the Court’s determination is equally applicable to the corresponding Nebraska statute.
Ultimately, ensuring the relevance and reliability of expert testimony is the intent of an inquiry pursuant to Daubert/Kumho Tire or Frye, and Daubert/Kumho Tire is the better-reasoned and more effective means of accomplishing this end. I believe that we should join the vast majority of jurisdictions in the United States in adopting the standards enunciated in Daubert/Kumho Tire as the appropriate criteria for evaluating the admissibility of expert opinion testimony in the courts of Nebraska.
Marchisio’s Testimony Under Daubert/Kumho Tire
The parties do not contest that Marchisio was qualified to testify as an expert in vocational rehabilitation. Evidence presented at trial established that Marchisio has a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and was, at the time of trial, president of Midlands Rehabilitations Consultants, Inc. Marchisio has extensive experience in the field of vocational rehabilitation, was licensed by the Nebraska *278Department of Health and Human Services as a certified professional counselor and as a mental health practitioner, and was certified by the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and job placement specialist.
As the majority notes, the issues presented on appeal relate to the foundation presented for certain opinions to which Marchisio testified. Specifically, the majority addresses two aspects of Marchisio’s opinion: (1) his description of Phillips as “disabled” and (2) his determination that Phillips’ worklife expectancy had been reduced from 54.2 years to 38.9 years.
I do not agree with the majority’s conclusion that Marchisio’s opinion lacked foundation because Marchisio was not qualified to determine that Phillips was disabled. The majority assumes that the word “disability” is uniquely associated with a medical diagnosis, such that only a qualified medical expert may use the term. This, in fact, is not the case.
The Supreme Court of South Dakota addressed a similar situation in Marnette v. Morgan, 485 N.W.2d 595, 598 (S.D. 1992). The court stated: “We continue to hold that a disability may be established through testimony other than a doctor. There is a distinction between a disability rating and an impairment rating.” (Emphasis in original.) The court articulated that distinction as follows:
“Although the medical impairment rating given by a doctor is an important factor, the extent of loss of use does not necessarily equal the extent of medical impairment. .
“Permanent medical impairment is related directly to the health status of the individual, whereas disability can be determined only within the context of the personal, social, or occupational demands, or statutory or regulatory requirements that the individual is unable to meet as a result of the impairment.”
(Citation omitted.) (Emphasis in original.) Id.
In Marnette, the court determined that the vocational rehabilitation expert’s testimony lacked foundation because there was no medical testimony establishing that the plaintiff suffered any medical impairment. This result was entirely proper, as medical *279impairment can be established only through properly qualified medical testimony.
In the present case, however, Ripa testified that Phillips suffered from “restriction in the extremes of her mobility of the neck” such that she did not have full range of motion in her neck. Ripa further testified that it was his opinion, within a reasonable degree of medical probability, that Phillips’ injury was permanent. In addition, Phillips herself testified regarding the discomfort and limitations she suffered as a result of the injury. Finally, Marchisio testified that in preparing his opinion, he also relied on his interview of Phillips and an examination of Phillips’ medical records.
Based on this evidence, Marchisio could appropriately determine that Phillips was disabled. The testimony of Ripa, Phillips herself, and Phillips’ self-report and medical records provided an adequate assessment of Phillips’ medical impairment. Given that assessment, Marchisio could conclude that Phillips was disabled, as that term is used in the field of vocational rehabilitation, by determining the effect of Phillips’ physical impairment in the context of her “personal, social, and occupational demands.” See Marnette, supra.
I agree, however, with the majority’s conclusion regarding Marchisio’s opinion that Phillips’ worklife had been reduced by the specific figure of 15.3 years. This testimony, when subjected to a Daubert/Kumho Tire analysis, lacks the validity required under the Nebraska rules of evidence, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the erroneous admission of this evidence was prejudicial error requiring a new trial.
Based on the testimony of Phillips and Ripa and Ripa’s examination of Phillips and her medical records, as summarized above and in the majority opinion, Marchisio could appropriately offer his opinion regarding Phillips’ reduced functional capacity and reduced earning capacity. As a vocational expert, Marchisio would be qualified by education, training, and experience to address how Phillips’ physical limitations might affect her employability status.
The specific figure regarding Phillips’ reduced worklife expectancy, however, was derived entirely from the “New Work Life Expectancy Tables” published by “Vocational Economet*280ríes.” Marchisio’s reliance on this questionable data is the methodological flaw in his analysis.
The usual foundation for expert reliance on external data, and the guarantee that such data is trustworthy, is generally that it is of the kind that is normally relied upon by experts in the particular field at issue. See § 27-703. Nonetheless, the gatekeeping responsibility of the trial court still requires it to determine whether the basis of an expert’s opinion meets minimum standards of reliability before that expert’s opinion is admissible. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993). If the underlying data are so lacking in reliability that no reasonable expert would rely on them, then an opinion that is derived entirely from them must be excluded from evidence. See In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litigation, 35 F.3d 717 (3d Cir. 1994), cert. denied, General Electric Co. et al. v. Ingram etal., 513 U.S. 1190, 115 S. Ct. 1253, 131 L. Ed. 2d 134 (1995).
[I]t is the judge who makes the determination of reasonable reliance, and ... for the judge to make the factual determination under [Fed. R. Evid.] 104(a) that an expert is basing his or her opinion on a type of data reasonably relied upon by experts, the judge must conduct an independent evaluation into reasonableness. The judge can of course take into account the particular expert’s opinion that experts reasonably rely on that type of data, as well as the opinions of other experts as to its reliability, but the judge can also take into account other factors he or she deems relevant.
(Emphasis in original.) In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litigation, 35 F.3d at 748.
Marchisio testified that the New Work Life Expectancy Tables were reasonably relied upon by experts in his field. However, Marchisio’s opinion about “reasonable” reliance is not determinative. A court must conduct an independent assessment of the data to determine if reliance upon them is indeed reasonable.
Many courts have addressed the reliance of expert witnesses on worklife expectancy tables that are published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and have *281stated that such tables are generally considered to be reliable. See, e.g., Boucher v. U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., 73 F.3d 18 (2d Cir. 1996); Mealey v. Slaton Machinery Sales, Inc., 508 F.2d 87 (5th Cir. 1975); Sales v. Republic of Uganda, 828 F. Supp. 1032 (S.D.N.Y. 1993); Earl v. Bouchard Transp. Co., Inc., 735 F. Supp. 1167 (E.D.N.Y. 1990), aff’d in part and in part rev’d, and remanded on other grounds, 917 F.2d 1320 (2d Cir.). But see In re Air Crash Disaster at Charlotte, N.C., 982 F. Supp 1101 (D.S.C. 1997) (U.S. Department of Labor worklife expectancy tables not persuasive because they ignore demographic changes made since 1986).
Even if those courts approving of the U.S. Department of Labor tables were correct, however, their determinations are not persuasive in the present case. The New Work Life Expectancy Tables, used in this case, were not published by the U.S. Department of Labor and contain such broadly defined classifications that reliance on them is not reasonable.
The New Work Life Expectancy Tables represent a statistical model that attempts to compare the worklife expectancy of the healthy segment of the work force with the “disabled” segment. The tables attempt to quantify how long a “disabled” person usually remains in the work force as opposed to a healthy person.
For purposes of the tables, however, the term “disabled” refers to a broad continuum of disabilities, from mild or transitory conditions to conditions that result in total dependence on others for care. In other words, the tables measure and average together the experiences of individuals within a tremendously diverse range of occupations and injuries such that, for statistical purposes, a police officer with a broken arm is equivalent to an attorney who develops a hearing impairment, who is in turn equivalent to a surgeon who becomes a paraplegic.
The flaw in this methodology is apparent. The degree of an individual’s unique disability obviously has an effect on how long that individual will remain in the work force. The nature of a person’s disability, relative to his or her particular occupation, will also have a commensurate effect on that person’s employ-ability status and worklife expectancy. A statistical average of such a broad range of disabilities, applied to an equally broad *282range of occupations, renders the result almost meaningless when attempting to determine what effect a disability will have on an individual person under particular circumstances. The use of actuarial tables in determining worklife expectancy should be rejected where the tables do not sufficiently relate to the unique circumstances of the person under evaluation.
In the present case, evidence was presented of facts specific to Phillips, and for Marchisio to render an opinion supported by these facts was not error. Marchisio’s opinion specifically quantifying Phillips’ reduced worklife expectancy, however, was not based on any facts particular to her but was based solely on data that were too generic to support a reliable opinion.
The use of statistical data by an expert in reaching an opinion is, of course, permissible, but can result in admissible evidence only where the basis for the opinion includes evidence particular to the case, demonstrating the pertinent applicability of the statistical data to the circumstances. That foundation was not present in this case. Marchisio’s “reasoning and methodology” were not valid, as the New Work Life Expectancy Tables could not “properly ... be applied to the facts in issue.” See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 593, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993).
Consequently, it was error to admit Marchisio’s opinion that Phillips’ worklife expectancy had been reduced by 15.3 years. The Daubert/Kumho Tire requirement that an expert’s conclusions be supported by good grounds for each step in the analysis means that any step that renders the analysis unreliable under the Daubert/Kumho Tire factors renders the expert’s testimony inadmissible. See In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litigation, 35 F.3d 111 (3d Cir. 1994).
Given our standard of review, I cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in determining that the admission of Marchisio’s testimony was error, or in determining that the error was prejudicial and required a new trial. It is for these reasons that I concur in the judgment.
Hendry, C. J., and Miller-Lerman, J., join in this concurrence.