The state of Montana follows the Daubert test for the admissibility of expert witness testimony. State v. Southern, 980 P.2d 3 (Mont. 1999). This test focuses on the reliability of an expert’s testimony. Id. Under this test, there are four factors that the court should use to help determine whether the expert’s testimony is admissible, although the factors are not determinative. Id. The factors are: “(a) whether the theory or technique can be and has been tested; (b) whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; (c) whether the theory or technique has a known or potential rate of error and whether there are standards controlling the technique’s operation; and (d) whether the theory or technique has been generally accepted or rejected in the particular scientific field.” Id. This test should not be applied to all scientific evidence, but rather only “novel scientific evidence.” Id.
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