PointofLaw.com Blog: Another State rejects Daubert

PointofLaw.com | PointOfLaw Forum: Another State rejects Daubert

According to a post on Point of Law, by David Berstein, the North Carolina Supreme Court rejected the federal Daubert standard in favor of the less mechanistic and rigorous state standard. The case did not involve economic testimony.





David Berstein Reports:

On Friday, the North Carolina Supreme Court rejected the federal Daubert standard for the admissibility of expert testimony. The court decided to retain North Carolina's unique admissibility standard. Like Daubert, this standard purports to require that expert testimony be reliable. However, lest they get confused, the court advised lower courts in North Carolina that "application of the North Carolina approach is decidedly less mechanistic and rigorous than the 'exacting standards of reliability' demanded by the federal approach. The court condemned Daubert's "gatekeeping" approach as putting "trial courts in the onerous and impractical position of passing judgment on the substantive merits of the scientific or technical theories undergirding an expert's opinion."