During a product-liability trial, the plaintiff offers the testimony of an engineering expert. The expert explains that she formed her opinion in part by reviewing an unpublished accident-investigation report prepared by a government agency. The report itself is inadmissible hearsay. The defendant objects, arguing that the expert's opinion is inadmissible because it relies on hearsay material that has not been admitted into evidence. How should the court rule under the Federal Rules of Evidence?
Admit both the opinion and the accident-investigation report, because an expert's reliance automatically renders the underlying materials admissible.
Exclude the opinion unless the accident-investigation report is admitted into evidence.
Exclude the opinion, because an expert may rely only on facts or data that are themselves admissible in evidence.
Admit the opinion, because experts may rely on inadmissible facts or data if experts in the field reasonably rely on them, but the report itself should not be disclosed to the jury unless its probative value substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect.
The court should admit the expert's opinion. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 703, an expert may base an opinion on facts or data that the expert has been made aware of or personally observed, even if the underlying information is not itself admissible, as long as experts in the field would reasonably rely on that type of information. The underlying inadmissible data may be disclosed to the jury only if its probative value in helping the jury evaluate the opinion substantially outweighs any prejudicial effect. Therefore, the opinion is admissible, but the government report should be withheld from the jury absent the Rule 703 balancing determination.
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