Court Opinion

ID: 9855407
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:24:25.368426+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:14.985006
License: Public Domain

LEVINE, Justice,
concurring specially.
I write specially to confirm my understanding that questions of doubt about the admissibility of expert testimony generally should be resolved in favor of letting it in. That is so because the purpose of the rules of evidence is “to make it easier for expert witnesses to educate the trier about a body of knowledge that may be unfamiliar to the lay person.” J. Weinstein, M. Berger, Weinstein’s Evidence Manual § 13.01 (1990) (expert witnesses). Doubts about the usefulness of expert testimony thus should be resolved in favor of admissibility “unless there are strong factors such as incredibility, time or surprise favoring exclusion.” Id. § 13.02[02] at 13-8.
Obviously, the danger of expert testimony admitted willy-nilly is that it will simply be used to evaluate the commonplace and supplant a jury’s independent exercise of common sense. See, e.g., Scott v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 789 F.2d 1052, 1055 (4th Cir.1986). However, protection against that hazard is squarely in the hands of the trial judge and, absent what amounts to egregious error, the trial judge’s decision should stand.
While an opinion that merely tells jurors what result to reach is not helpful, e.g., Kostelecky v. NL Acme Tool/NL Industries, Inc., 837 F.2d 828, 830 (8th Cir.1988), I agree with the majority that, here, Bate-man did assist the trier on the subjects of cause and methodology. Cf. M.C. Carlisle & Co. v. Cross, 386 F.2d 672, 676 (1st Cir.1967); Lanza v. Poretti, 537 F.Supp. 777, 785-86 (E.D.Pa.1982) (expert permitted to eliminate possible causes of fire since he expressed opinion with reasonable degree of scientific certainty which aided trier in determining what did not cause fire).
Accordingly, I concur.