Court Opinion

ID: 9584095
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:44:33.743782+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:06:42.234670
License: Public Domain

Gregory, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Whether or not an expert opinion is admissible does not turn upon whether it relates to an ultimate issue in the case. The opinion should be admitted unless it amounts to no more than a general belief as to how the case should be decided. The latter type evidence is not proper because it tends to suggest that the jury may shift responsibility for making its decision to the witness. See McCormick on Evidence, § 12, at 26 (2d Ed. 1972). Otherwise, an expert’s opinion is admissible if, “the subject of the inference [is] so distinctly related to some science, profession, business or occupation as to be beyond the ken of the average layman” and the witness has such skill, knowledge, or experience in the field as to make it appear “his opinion or inference will probably aid the trier in his search for truth.” McCormick, supra, § 13.