Legal standards for the admissibility of expert testimony: Implications of the 2009 National Research Council report on forensic sciences

Abstract

This talk will review formal legal standards for the admissibility of expert testimony in the United States, focusing on the Daubert standard that is applied in Federal courts and the Frye standard that is applied in several major states (including California and New York). It will also discuss the National Research Council's 2009 critique of judicial “gatekeeping,” particularly the NRC's stunning claim that courts have violated their own purported standards by allowing forensic scientists to present scientifically dubious testimony based on inadequately validated methods. It will conclude by providing suggestions for researchers in emerging areas of forensic inquiry, like forensic acoustical science, who contemplate testifying in court.