Challenging expert witness testimony in Florida products liability cases under Frye.
Florida Bar Journal › Vol. 81 Nbr. 3, March 2007
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Challenging expert witness testimony in Florida products liability cases under Frye.
Trials are often won or lost on the testimony of expert witnesses. Thus, successfully excluding the testimony of an opposing expert witness can deal a devastating blow to the opponent's case. Because scientific expert witness testimony is virtually inescapable in products liability cases, it is crucial for counsel handling those cases to be well-versed in the relevant case law and equipped with a full arsenal of tactics for challenging the testimony of an opponent's expert witness. This article examines the current state of Florida law with regard to the exclusion of expert witness testimony about scientific or technical issues and discusses techniques that may be particularly useful in challenging such testimony in products liability cases.
Evolution of Florida Case Law Regarding Admissibility of Expert Witness Testimony F.S. [sections]90.702 provides the framework for the admission of expert witness testimony in Florida state courts. It states "if scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or in determining a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify about it in the form of an opinion; however, the opinion is admissible only if it can be applied to evidence at trial." (1) Over time, there has been much dispute about the proper role trial courts sho...See the full content of this document
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