Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit August 16, 2000, 99-50587 (United States v. Jorge Alberto Alatorre)

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

The question in this case is whether the district court must hold a separate hearing before trial, as opposed to making an evi-dentiary determination during trial, in order to fulfill the “gatekeeping” function outlined in the Supreme Court’s trilogy of cases addressing the admissibility of expert testimony:

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,

509 U.S. 579, 113 S.