State v. Scott M. Cain(074124)

In State v. Odom, 116 N.J. 65, 80-81, 560 A.2d 1198 (1989), we held that an expert witness in a drug-distribution case could testify to the ultimate issue of fact — whether a defendant possessed drugs with the intent to distribute. We cautioned, however, that the expert’s testimony should not amount to a pronouncement of guilt. Allowing an expert to offer an opinion on a defendant’s guilty state of mind in a drug case while prohibiting the same expert from offering an opinion on defendant’s guilt are not easily reconcilable principles. In a series of eases since Odom, we have attempted to…