Expert Testimony

Expert testimony

Expert witnesses must be qualified by the Court, based on the prospective experts’ qualifications and the standards set from legal precedent. The most common approach made by all federal courts is the gatekeeper model, formulated from US Supreme Court. In this test the hearing will take place with the judge without the jury. The hearing considers 4 questions about the testimony the prospective expert proposes:

• Whether a “theory or technique . . . can be tested”
• Whether it “has been subjected to review and publication”.
• Whether, in respect to a particular technique, there is a high “known or potential rate of error”
• Whether there are “standards controlling the technique’s operation”.

In each and every case filed in the court a testimony given by an expert (who is well trained and experienced), is more important so that the jury can get wide information in the area of the crime committed.

A person who is to give testimony should possess more knowledge in the subject matter than an average person. It should be the product of reliable principles and methods. The witnesses’ opinion should be sufficient enough to rely upon officially and legally.

The court can sometimes call upon the experts to evaluate on certain fact or action in order to get a complete knowledge to give a better judgment. For example it is the duty of an expert to explain to the judge and jurors how alcohol and drugs impair drivers and how the police measure levels of intoxication. Usually testimony based on experience is legally admissible, but it is not accepted scientifically. Hence the court should decide the testimony given reflects scientific knowledge, and the findings derived are by scientific methods, is it relevant to the case at hand and it is reliable and relevant enough to assist the jury.