Thursday, November 02, 2006

Delaware Supreme Court Upholds Exclusion of Psychiatric Testimony

The Supreme Court of Delaware (a Daubert state) has upheld the trial court's exclusion of evidence from two psychiatric experts. See Anker v. State, No. 552, 2005 (Del. Oct. 31, 2006).

The defendant in Anker was a real estate lawyer charged with conspiring to misappropriate client funds at mortgage closings. His daughter, who worked for him as an employee, was his alleged co-conspirator. The defense proceeded on theory that the daughter was the real culprit, acting from resentment over her parents' divorce, with the lawyer too blinded by love and guilt to see what his daughter was doing. The high court agreed that the jurors didn't need psychiatrists to help them comprehend that theory.

posted by pn at 6:51 AM  

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Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.