Also known as: Daubert standard · Daubert rule · Daubert hearing · Daubert · Daubert v. Merrell Dow
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial standard used by federal courts to determine the admissibility of expert testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. The standard requires the trial judge to act as gatekeeper by ensuring that the testimony is both relevant and reliable through a flexible case-specific inquiry into the expert's principles and methods.
Damian Decker sued Dixon Foods after a delivery truck rollover injured him. Dixon Foods offered an aerospace engineer who relied on a proprietary fluid-dynamics simulation never validated against actual crash data. The district court conducted a pretrial hearing and excluded the testimony because the methodology lacked testing and a known error rate for real-world applications.
Destiny Davis sued Dakota Industries for patent infringement over a facial-recognition algorithm. Dakota Industries offered a computer scientist whose benchmarking script rested on unreviewed internal tests and laptop extrapolations. The district court excluded the testimony after finding an impermissible analytical gap between the limited data and the opinions offered.
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Diane Dawson sued Dawson Steel after an industrial press severed her hand. Dawson Steel offered a mechanical engineer who relied on a finite-element computer model never independently validated. The district court admitted the testimony after determining that the flexible reliability inquiry supported the technical methodology.
Dolores Diaz challenged a state's execution protocol. The state offered a pharmacy dean to testify about a sedative's properties. The district court performed a Daubert analysis and admitted the testimony after concluding the expert's qualifications and methods met the reliability threshold.
Daniel Diaz faced court-martial charges. He sought to introduce polygraph results through an examiner. The military judge excluded the testimony after determining that the technique failed the reliability requirements for specialized knowledge.
Dwight Dorsey was prosecuted for drug trafficking. The government offered an agent's interpretation of recorded statements. The district court excluded the testimony after finding the agent's methodology created too great an analytical gap from the underlying data.
The trial judge must act as gatekeeper to ensure expert testimony is both relevant and reliable before it reaches the jury. The judge conducts a preliminary assessment of the expert's methodology outside the jury's presence, typically during a Daubert hearing.
No. The reliability analysis extends to all expert testimony based on technical or other specialized knowledge. Courts retain discretion to consider the traditional factors or other appropriate indicia of reliability tailored to the field.
Appellate courts review a district court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony for abuse of discretion. A court may exclude testimony when there is too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion proffered.
No. The factors are illustrative and flexible rather than a rigid checklist. A court may consider testability, peer review, error rate, standards, and general acceptance, but need not require every factor when the methodology is otherwise reliable for its field.
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. <!-- acedexams opinion md v1 -- Case information - Citation: 509 U.S. 579, 592 (1993) Majority opinion Opinion of Judge Kozinski Michael H.…