MRE 701 Example Case

In People v. Smith, 152 Mich App 756, 764; 394 NW2d 94 (1986), the Court approved a police officer's trial testimony that when he first spotted the defendant and his accomplice they were standing "up against the house . . . trying to conceal themselves from the street or any vehicular traffic." After citing MRE 701, the Court observed that the "admission of opinion testimony is within the trial court's discretion," and concluded, "here the opinion testimony was clearly based on the witness's perception and involved a crucial issue, whether defendant was the victim of a crime or a culprit. We do not believe that the trial court's discretion was abused." Id.