Evidence Commons^™

Helping Jurors To Make Sense Of Expert Testimony, David Aaronson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Today's jurors frequently sit in trials where confusing and conflicting expert testimony is likely to be presented by sophisticated and highly trained individuals, using terminology unfamiliar to the average person. Proposals have been made and trial courts are experimenting with various procedures—none thoroughly evaluated— to improve jurors’ ability to cope with such testimony. My purpose here is to more clearly identify the problem and to review some of the reform proposals.