Rule 704 Opinion on an Ultimate Issue

A witness who gives an opinion in court can speak directly to the main question the jury needs to decide. For example, an expert can say whether they think someone was negligent or whether a product was defective, even though those are the core questions in the case.

In older court practice, witnesses were sometimes blocked from giving opinions on these key questions because it was seen as overstepping into the jury's job. This rule removes that barrier and allows witnesses to give more complete and useful testimony.