Expert Psychological Testimony, Forms of

Expert evidence comes to court in a variety of forms and, in particular, at a couple of levels of generality. It often involves general research findings that, although relevant to a particular case, also transcend that case. General research findings will sometimes be used in the establishment of applicable law and decided by judges but, more typically, will be considered a component of the fact-finding duties of triers of fact. A large part of expert evidence, however, involves factual issues that are specific to particular cases, though they may be claimed instances of more general phenomena. Courts and scholars have proposed various models to account for the several ways in which expert evidence is manifested in court. The three most influential of these models are ...