Is an expert's opinion admissible in a civil case?

Even if an expert's opinion steers clear of questions of law, it is not admissible if it invades the province of the jury to decide a case by, for example, expressing a general belief as to how the case should be decided. (Summers, supra, 69 Cal.App.4th. at p. 1182; People v. Humphrey (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1073, 1099 [an "expert must not usurp the function of the jury"].) These types of opinions "are not excluded

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because they embrace an ultimate issue, but because they are not helpful (or perhaps too helpful)." (Summers, at p. 1183.) "'Where the jury is just as competent as the expert to consider and weigh the evidence and draw the necessary conclusions, then the need for expert testimony evaporates.'" (People v. Torres (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 37, 47.)

1. Victims' characters and the relationship between defendant and each victim