California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Cantrell, 105 Cal.Rptr. 792, 504 P.2d 1256, 8 Cal.3d 672 (Cal. 1973):
[8 Cal.3d 688] (The value of an expert's opinion is dependent on the truth of the facts he assumes as the basis of that opinion. (Evid.Code, 801; Owings v. Industrial Acc. Com. (1948) 31 Cal.2d 689, 692, 192 P.2d 1, and cases cited.) Here the assumed fact--that defendant was performing a lewd sexual act on his victim when the killing took place--is consistent with the only other evidence of the circumstances of the crime, i.e., defendant's uncontradicted and voluntary statements to his friend Stringer and to the police. Accordingly, we cannot believe the jury would have accepted the opinion of the psychiatrists that defendant suffered from diminished capacity at the time of the homicide without also accepting the truth of the assumed fact supporting that opinion. 5
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