West's Encyclopedia of American Law | Daubert Test

In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the seminal decision of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed. 2d 469, (U.S. Jun 28, 1993) (NO. 92-102). The case involved the admissibility of novel SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. But to begin to understand the significance of Daubert, one needs to view the case in its wider context, going back 70 years to Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923).

Frye involved the admissibility of opinion evidence based upon the use of an early version of the POLYGRAPH. The D.C. Circuit Court held that scientific evidence was admissible if it was based on a scientific technique generally accepted as reliable in the scientific community. Thus,