1-11-2013 Kansas:If expert opinion testimony based on scientific methods or procedures is offered as evidence in Kansas state courts, the offering party must satisfy the Frye test. See Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923). That test requires a "showing that the basis of a scientific opinion is generally accepted as reliable within the expert's particular scientific field." State v. Shadden, 290 Kan. 803, 819, 235 P.3d 436 (2010).
In these proceedings to declare Douglas Girard and Eugene Mallard sexually violent predators, they ask us to instead apply the Daubert test to the actuarial risk assessments used by the State's expert witnesses in helping to predict the odds of their reoffending. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). The Daubert test essentially makes Frye's test of "general acceptance" simply one factor to be considered in the admissibility calculus. 509 U.S. at 594, 113 S.Ct. 2786.
In both their cases, the district court essentially ruled that Frye applied to the actuarial risk assessments. It admitted the scientific opinion testimony which was partially based on these statistical calculations of risk. The Court of Appeals affirmed, with a majority holding that neither Frye nor Daubert applied because the actuarial assessments were not scientific. In re Girard, 45 Kan. App.2d 1109, 1111, 257 P.3d 1256 (2011). We granted the defendants' consolidated petitions for review and have jurisdiction under K.S.A. 20-3018(b).
We hold Frye applies and the actuarial risk assessments survive Frye's scrutiny. The district court therefore is affirmed. ..continued.. by Supreme Court of Kansas.
