Attempts To Limit The Scope Of The Frye Standard For The Admission ...

Skip to main content

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( LockA locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

1. Home

NCJRS Virtual Library The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works. Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library Attempts To Limit the Scope of the Frye Standard for the Admission of Scientific Evidence: Confronting the Real Cost of the General Acceptance Test NCJ Number 140657 Journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1992) Pages: 441-454 Author(s) E J Imwinkelried Date Published 1992 Length 14 pages Annotation Although limiting the Frye rule for accepting expert testimony regarding scientific evidence would be desirable, two proposed limitations achieve that goal by questionable methods. Abstract Established in 1923 in the case of Frye v. United States, the rule requires that to be admissible, the scientific principle or technique have gained general acceptance in the field to which it belongs. In the last decade, judges have increasingly limited the scope of the Frye rule. One trend is to exempt psychological testimony and other specific types of scientific testimony from the Frye standard. Another emerging trend is to restrict the rule to criminal cases. Although these limitations reduce the cost of the Frye rule, the limitations are spurious. No solid case has been made for limiting the rule to instrumental techniques in science. In addition, limiting it to criminal cases is wrong-minded. Therefore, legislatures and courts should confront the real policy choice: abandoning the Frye rule due to its intolerable cost or forthrightly paying the cost and applying the general acceptance test to all species of scientific evidence in all types of cases. Footnotes

Additional Details

Publication Format Article Publication Type Legislation/Policy Analysis Language English Country United States of America

Downloads

No download available

Availability

Find in a Library

Related Topics

Appellate court decisions Expert Witnesses Rules of evidence Technical experts Legislation (SMART)