In Re: Amendments to the Florida Evidence Code, 2019 Fla. LEXIS 818 (Fla. 2019)

Florida Supreme Court adopts Daubert standard, recedes from Frye standard.

The Florida Supreme Court has adopted the Daubert standard for determining the admissibility of expert testimony. The court reversed course from its 2017 and 2018 decisions that resulted in the Frye standard being used across all Florida’s state courts. The federal court system, as well as at least 36 states, have adopted the Daubert standard. Now in Florida courts, expert testimony will be subjected to a higher level of scrutiny, trial judges will act as gatekeepers charged with excluding unqualified experts and unreliable testimony, and litigants can expect more hearings challenging expert testimony at possibly greater expense, a cost which may prove insignificant when compared to the benefit of assuring only competent and reliable expert testimony reaches the ears of the jury.

 

Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2019

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