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Georgia

    Georgia decisions are monitored for the site by Charles R. Beans, a partner at the Atlanta branch of Hawkins & Parnell.  For many years, even after Daubert, the Georgia courts adhered to the test set forth in Harper v. State, 249 Ga. 519, 292 S.E.2d 389 (1982), under which expert scientific testimony was admissible if the procedure or technique on which the expert relied had "reached a scientific stage of verifiable certainty" or "rest[ed] upon the laws of nature."  In February 2005, however, the legislature intervened, passing Senate Bill 3.  As signed into law by the Governor, Senate Bill 3 mandates that Daubert be followed in civil cases and encourages the Georgia courts to draw on federal Daubert precedents.  The legislation supplies a different test in criminal cases, in which "the opinions of experts on any question of science, skill, trade, or like questions shall always be admissible."  Georgia's Evidence Code is available online.