Sunday, September 07, 2003

Fifth Circuit Upholds Exclusion of Expert on Securities Law

In a published opinion released Friday, the Fifth Circuit upheld the exclusion of expert testimony from a lawyer and securities expert, offered on behalf of the defendant in a criminal securities fraud case. See United States v. Tucker, No. 02-41104 (5th Cir. Sept. 5, 2003) (Wiener, Barksdale, & Furgeson, JJ.). The expert's qualifications were free from doubt, and in the main, his testimony was not challenged for alleged want of accuracy. For the most part, it was simply held to be unhelpful to the jury on various grounds.

The trial court's Daubert ruling appears to have been the primary point raised by the defendant on appeal. Counting the decision in Tucker, attorney witnesses are batting 0-for-7 in federal appellate decisions since January 1, 2000.

posted by pn at 2:53 PM  

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.