Also known as: gatekeeper role · gatekeeping roles · gatekeeper roles · judicial gatekeeping · gatekeeper function
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial function performed by trial courts to screen proposed expert testimony for reliability and relevance before it reaches the jury. The court must determine whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts or data, employs reliable principles and methods, and applies those methods reliably to the case at hand. An appellate court reviews the trial court's decision for abuse of discretion.
Gregory Gates sued a chemical manufacturer after developing a respiratory illness. His expert linked the illness to the defendant's product by citing animal studies and general exposure data. The district court found too great an analytical gap between the data and the expert's specific causation opinion and excluded the testimony. On appeal the circuit court affirmed, holding that the exclusion fell within the trial court's discretion.
Gretchen Graham alleged birth defects caused by a prescription drug. She offered experts who claimed their methods were generally accepted in the field. The trial court required objective validation of the methodology rather than accepting the experts' assurances and excluded the testimony. The appellate court upheld the ruling as a proper exercise of the gatekeeping function.
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The court must decide whether the expert's opinion rests on sufficient facts or data, whether the expert employed reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were applied reliably to the facts of the case.
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Appellate courts review a district court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony for abuse of discretion.
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Yes. A court may conclude that there is simply too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion proffered and may exclude the testimony on that basis.
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…by people who deal in these matters, see, e.g., Gross Aff. at 5. The Court held, however, that federal judges perform a "gatekeeping role," Daubert , --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2798; to do so they must satisfy themselves that scientific evidence meets a certain standard of reliability before it is admitted. This means…