Court Opinion

ID: 9723453
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:15:38.473206+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:48.895801
License: Public Domain

RATLIFF, Chief Judge,
concurring.
To the extent that the majority opinion perpetuates the archaic rule that for expert testimony to be admissible it must concern a subject beyond the knowledge of the average lay person, I disagree. While this has been the rule, in Summers v. State (1986), Ind.App., 495 N.E.2d 799, we rejected that rule in favor of a more modern approach. In Summers, we said:
“The trend of recent cases seems to focus more attention on the knowledge and skill of the expert and whether the expert’s opinion will be helpful to the trier of fact than on the question of the knowledge of the jury. See E.W. Cleary, McCormick on Evidence, at 33 (3d ed. 1984). This standard is incorporated in Fed.Rule of Evidence 702, which provides:
‘If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier *605of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.’
“In commenting upon Fed.R.Evid. 702, one authority has said:
‘Must a court exclude expert testimony if the subject is within the comprehension of the average juror? Such a test is incompatible with the standard of helpfulness expressed in Rule 702. First, it assumes wrongly that there is a bright line separating issues within the comprehension of jurors from those that are not. Secondly, even when jurors are well equipped to make judgments on the basis of their common knowledge and experience, experts may have specialized knowledge to bring to bear on the same issue which would be helpful.’
3 J. Weinstein and M. Berger, Wein-stein’s Evidence, § 702(02) (1985).
“We believe the above quoted comment from Weinstein, although directed to Fed.R. of Evid. 702, is appropriate to our consideration of this issue. The modern trend is away from strict application of the rule excluding expert testimony on subjects within the common knowledge of jurors. Carlson v. Hudson (1974), 19 Ill.App.3d 576, 312 N.E.2d 19; Stanley v. Board of Education (1973), 9 Ill.App.3d 963, 293 N.E.2d 417.
‘Traditionally, expert testimony has not been permitted when its subject matter is not beyond the knowledge and experience of the average juror [citation omitted], but more recently, the trend is to permit it if the expert has some special knowledge and his testimony is of aid to the jury even though the average juror would also have some knowledge of the subject matter. [Citations omitted.]’
“Binge v. J.J. Borders Construction Co. (1981), 95 Ill.App.3d 238, 50 Ill.Dec. 788, 791, 419 N.E.2d 1237, 1240. The modern standard for admissibility of expert testimony is whether that testimony will aid the jurors in understanding the facts.
Johnson v. Commonwealth Edison Co. (1985), 133 Ill.App.3d 472, 88 Ill.Dec. 449, 478 N.E.2d 1057. In order to be admitted into evidence, the expert testimony must assist the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or deciding a factual issue, and the witness must be qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to give such testimony. Ruffiner v. Material Service Corp. (1985), 134 Ill.App.3d 747, 89 Ill. Dec. 414, 480 N.E.2d 1157.”
495 N.E.2d at 802-03.
The majority correctly holds Trooper Hawkins’ accident reconstruction testimony was admissible. I concur in that decision, but I do so on the basis of the rule announced in Summers.
In all other respects, I concur.
GARRARD, P.J., concurs.