Opinion ID: 1103979
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the daubert/kumho gate-keeping functions should apply in state death penalty cases.

Text: ¶ 30. Puckett claims that the Mississippi Court erred in not applying the standards established by this Court in Duabert [sic] v. Merill [sic] Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993) and Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999), in determining whether [Dr. Michael West's, D.D.S.,] testimony should have been allowed. [2] Basically Puckett contends that the trial court and this Court erred in finding that Dr. West could testify as an expert in wound pattern analysis. Puckett maintains that Dr. West's methods were not generally accepted within the forensic science field and he should not have been allowed to testify. ¶ 31. First and foremost, the issue of whether Dr. West should have been permitted to testify as an expert witness in the field of wound patterns was raised and discussed on direct appeal. Puckett, 737 So.2d at 341-43. This Court held that the trial court did not err in allowing Dr. West to testify as an expert in the field of wound patterns. Id. at 343. This issue is procedurally barred. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-21(3). ¶ 32. In his reply brief, Puckett offers his Exhibit 16 which he identifies as Minutes of the Ethics Committee of the American Academy of Forensic Science. The document was in response to a complaint regarding Dr. West's scientific methods. The complaint was filed after Dr. West testified in a capital murder case in 1992. The Academy appears to have recommended that Dr. Michael H. West be expelled from the Academy.... ¶ 33. Regardless of Puckett's contention and his Exhibit 16, this Court stated the following on Puckett's direct appeal regarding Puckett's challenge of Dr. West's testimony: It is interesting to note that the pathologist, Dr. Steven Hayne, also testified that the victim's wounds were consistent with State's Exhibit No. 3 without objection. Furthermore, Puckett himself testified that State's Exhibit No. 3 was the murder weapon, only that David Griffis was the one who used it to beat his wife to death. Puckett also admitted being hit by David with that very same stick. Consequently, even if it had been error to allow Dr. West to testify as a wound pattern expert, his testimony could not have been prejudicial and harmful as Puckett himself confirmed everything Dr. West stated during his own testimony. Puckett, 737 So.2d at 343. Relief on this claim is denied.