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N.D.R.Ev. 704

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 704 Opinion on an Ultimate Issue

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Rule Text

An opinion is not objectionable just because it embraces an ultimate issue.

Amendment history: (Adopted June 3, 1976; amended Mar. 1, 2014.)

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

Witnesses, including experts, can give opinions that touch on the exact question the judge or jury needs to decide. In the past, some courts blocked this kind of testimony because it seemed to step on the jury's job. This rule says that is no longer a valid reason to keep the opinion out.

For example, in a case about whether someone was mentally competent, an expert can say directly that the person was or was not competent. The jury still gets to weigh that opinion along with everything else and make the final call. The opinion does not decide the case by itself, but it also cannot be blocked just because it addresses the main issue in dispute.

Committee Notes

Rule 704 was amended, effective March 1, 2014.

This rule is based on Fed.R.Ev. 704. It should be noted that this rule applies to the opinions of lay witnesses, whenever admissible, as well as to opinions of experts.

This rule omits language found in Fed.R.Ev. 704 (b), which bars opinion testimony in a criminal case on whether the defendant had a "mental state or condition that constitutes an element of the crime charged or of a defense." This rule does not bar this type of testimony.

Rule 704 was amended, effective March 1, 2014, in response to the December 1, 2011, revision of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. The term "inference" was deleted to make the rule flow better and because any "inference" is covered by the broader term "opinion." There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of September 27, 2012, page 6; April 26-27, 2012, page 32; June 3, 1976, page 7. Fed.R.Ev. 704; Rule 704, SBAND proposal.

Statutes Affected:

Considered: N.D.C.C. §§ 12.1-04.1-03, 12.1-04.1-04, 12.1-04.1-13.

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