Adams v. State

During the hearing to determine Adams’ competency to stand trial, the trial court ruled that a social worker could not testify as an expert that she had made a provisional diagnosis of “paranoid-type schizophrenia.” The majority concludes that the trial court erred in excluding that testimony. I strongly disagree with that holding and suggest that relevant precedent mandates the opposite conclusion. However, I fully agree with the remaining portions of the majority *870opinion and concur in the judgment of affirmance.

A social worker, like any other lay witness, may give non-expert opinion…