SPECULATIVE EXPERT TESTIMONY v. EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS Sargon Enterprises, Inc. v. University of Southern California (2012) 55 Cal.4th 747 holds that the exclusion of speculative expert testimony is one of a trial judge’s gatekeeper functions. (Id. at pp. 771-772.) In other words, “the court must simply determine whether the matter relied on can provide a reasonable basis for the opinion or whether that opinion is based on a leap of logic or conjecture.” (Id. at p….

SANCHEZ’S HEARSAY DECISION THREE YEARS LATER People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665 holds that the hearsay rule applies to case-specific out-of-court statements considered by experts as true and accurate and relied upon to support their opinions, because such statements are being admitted for the truth. (Id. at p. 686.) “Case-specific facts are those relating to the particular events and participants alleged to have been involved in the case being tried.” (Id. at p. 676.)…

MICHAEL D. MARCUS’S MEDIATION MESSAGE NO. 124 EXPERT TESTIMONY AND THE HEARSAY RULE: GENERALIZED BACKGROUND INFORMATION VERSUS CASE-SPECIFIC FACTS In People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665, a unanimous Supreme Court clarified what information and facts experts rely upon are and are not subject to a hearsay objection. Sanchez holds the hearsay rule applies to case-specific out-of-court statements considered by experts as true and accurate and relied upon to support their opinions, because such statements…