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JOHNSON v. KNOXVILLE COMMUNITY SCH. DIST.11/26/1997
BR>
In contrast to our guideline principles applicable to rule 702, Daubert suggested the following framework for determining the admissibility of expert scientific testimony:
he trial judge must determine at the outset, pursuant to Rule 104(a), whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue. This entails a preliminary assessment of whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid and of whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue.
Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592-93, 113 S.Ct. at 2796, 125 L.Ed.2d at 482 (footnotes omitted).
In addition, the Supreme Court set forth a nonexhaustive checklist to help trial courts determine whether the underlying reasoning and methodology are both scientifically valid and applicable to the issues in the case. The checklist includes whether the theory or technique (1) can be (and has been) tested, (2) has been subjected to peer review and publication, (3) is generally accepted within the relevant scientific community, and (4) has a known or potential rate of error. Id. at 593-94, 113 S.Ct. at 2796-97, 125 L.Ed.2d at 483.
In Williams, we noted that a Daubert analysis can be time consuming and costly. Williams, 561 N.W.2d at 827. We also cited those federal cases that have taken a restrictive approach to Daubert, and we left open the question under what circumstances we would depart from our past interpretation of rule 702 and adopt the Daubert framework of analysis. Id.
Shortly following Williams, we refused to apply Daubert to a determination of whether expert testimony on lightning safety was admissible in an action brought against the owners of a grain elevator by an individual who was injured when lightning caused an explosion of accumulated grain dust. Mensink, 564 N.W.2d at 381. We cited with approval those federal cases holding that Daubert applies — in the language of rule 702 — only to novel scientific testimony and is simply not applicable to "technical or other specialized knowledge." Id. at 380-81. We concluded the expert's testimony about the risk factors making the building vulnerable to lightning did not involve a "highly complex matter of scientific evidence" and "were not complicated or novel ideas or even foreign to a layperson's understanding about the phenomenon of lightning." Id. at 381. Employing our own conventional rule 702 analysis, we concluded the expert witness "sufficiently established the reliability of this evidence and that it would likely assist the fact finder in determining the facts in issue." Id. [570 NW2d Page 638]
In Mensink, we cited with approval Thornton v. Caterpillar, Inc., 951 F. Supp. 575 (D.S.C. 1997). Id. at 380-81. Thornton concluded that Daubert should be narrowly limited to controversial and novel scientific evidence. Thornton is instructive because it defines the terms "scientific," "technical," and "other specialized knowledge" as used in rule 702:
The Daubert test cannot, and was not intended to, apply to expert testimony that is technical in nature, or to expert testimony that covers specialized knowledge. Footnote 8 of the Daubert decision clearly states that:
Rule 702 also applies to technical and other specialized knowledge. Our discussion is limited to the scientific context because that is the nature of the expertise offered here.
Random House Dictionary defines "technical" as anything "pertaining to or connected with the mechanical or industrial arts and the applied sciences." Technical knowledge is the knowledge of these mec
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