EXPERT EVIDENCE AND HEARSAY - THE INFLUENCE OF SECONDHAND INFORMATIONON JURORS DECISIONS

In upholding the admission of expert evidence, some courts have held t hat hearsay information conveyed via an expert may be admitted as long as the jury is instructed to ignore the facts asserted in the hearsay statements and to use the information only for determining the weight to attribute to the expert's opinion. Results of a mock juror simulat ion indicated that although hearsay elements conveyed via an expert we re perceived as less likely compared to a condition in which the infor mation was independently admitted at trial, it was not completely igno red by the jurors. Further, the findings tended to suggest that the im pact of the hearsay on verdict decisions operated primarily by influen cing evaluations regarding the likelihood of the hearsay events as opp osed to judgments regarding the expert testimony.