At the outset of a personal injury trial arising from a motor vehicle accident, the defendant moved to exclude expert evidence based on a brain SPECT scan used to diagnose a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The court held that using a SPECT scan to diagnose TBI and distinguish it from anxiety or depression constitutes novel science.
Applying the reliable foundation test from R. v. J.-L.J., the court found the methodology had not been tested, lacked peer review, had no known error rate, and was not generally accepted by the relevant scientific community.
The evidence was ruled inadmissible.
