MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
RE: Rule 28, N.D.R.Crim.P., Expert Witnesses and Interpreters
Attached are proposed amendments to Rule 28. The amendments are form and style amendments in the spirit of the December 2002 federal criminal rule amendments and are based on the amendments to Fed.R.Crim.P. 28.
The proposed changes go beyond form and style because they remove reference to expert witnesses both in the title and the rule, substantially narrowing the scope of the rule. Reference to expert witnesses were deleted from the federal rule in 1972 because the subject was covered in detail in Fed.R.Ev. 706. Since N.D.R.Ev. 706--like the federal rule--covers experts, deletion of the expert references from Rule 28 may likewise be appropriate.