Mississippi Supreme Court rules that expert evidence deserves its day in court

In Smith v. Clement, No. 2006-CA-00018-SCT (Miss. 10/04/07)., THe Supreme Court of Mississippi ruled that courts must provide litigants with an opportunity to be heard before ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony – and in all but exceptional cases that requires courts to hold hearings with full briefing and argument.

This important ruling may make some attorneys think twice before expending the resources on a Daubert challenge.

In a nutshell, the court said that litigants should have an opportunity to be heard on the admissibility of expert testimony.

Hearings make sense, the court said, as the most cautious approach to complex evidentiary issues."Perhaps before Daubert, such a determination could be made without a hearing, but the continual evolution of science and the growing intricacies of litigation mandate that we take the trial court’s role as 'gatekeeper' seriously," the court explained. "A hearing is simply the best method of guarding the admission of expert testimony."

See IMS for more.