The state of California follows the Frye test for expert witness admissibility. People v Buell, 16 Cal.App.5th 682 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017). This test provides that admissibility of expert witness testimony regarding the expert’s testing is reliant on the “reliability of scientific testing and its scientific basis.” Id. There is a two-step process in California. Id. The first step analyzes the “reliability of the method” of testing used by the expert, which is established by expert testimony. Id. The second step requires the expert to provide testimony sufficient to show that the expert is “qualified as an expert to give an opinion on the subject.” Id. Furthermore, the party offering the expert witness must “demonstrate that correct scientific procedures were used” by the expert. Id. Courts will look to other cases where experts used the same technique or procedure, and if said procedure was accepted in other cases, the technique is deemed to be generally accepted. Id.
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