Running Head: Federal Rules of Evidence f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f 1
ACC646 : 1-2 Activity: Expert Witness Testimony
Federal Rules of Evidence f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f 2
According to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, a witness can be considered to be an
expert if he has the qualification of an expert in terms of knowledge, experience, skills, or
education. If a witness qualifies as an expert, he can testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise
under a number of conditions (Federal Rules of Evidence 2020., 2020). The conditions that have
been presented in the rule are: if the expert’s technical, scientific or other specialized knowledge
will assist the trier to comprehend the evidence or ascertain a fact relating to an issue, if the
testimony is based on ample data or facts, if the testimony is the outcome of credible methods and
principles and if the expert in the case has loyally applied the relevant methods and principles to the
facts of the cases.
An expert can testify in a court of law if he possesses specialized knowledge, prowess, skills and
experience that is of relevance to the specific case. In such circumstances, his testimony would be
helpful as it could be of value to the judge or the jury. His testimony can play an instrumental role
in influencing and guiding the views of the judge (Blackwell, 2015). However, it solely depends on
the judge whether he believes that the expert witness has the necessary qualification or not and
whether the testimony that has been provided by him is admissible in the court of law or not.
The chief requirements relating to expert witness testimony are the relevance of the testimony to
the case, qualification of the expert, admissibility, value addition or helpfulness and reliability.
Similarly, the expert should not have any kind of financial interest in the case outcome (Duties of
the expert., 2015). Moreover, he should not have been involved in the case at any previous stage.
Federal Rules of Evidence f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f 3
References
Blackwell, S., & Seymour, F. (2015). Expert evidence and jurors’ views on expert witnesses.
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(5), 673–681.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2015.1063181
Duties of the expert. (2015). Foundations of Forensic Document Analysis, 227–240.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118729922.ch11
Federal Rules of Evidence 2020. United States Courts. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from
https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/archives/superseded-rules/federal-rules-evidence-
2020
