Opinion ID: 2716451
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of Defendant’s Expert on Negligence of Police Procedures

Text: ¶ 31. Prior to the first trial, defendant disclosed that he intended to call an expert witness on police evidence-gathering methods to explain to the jury the significance of the failure by police to collect the physical evidence. The court ruled that the proffered testimony was not relevant and excluded the witness. The judge who presided at the second trial adopted the first judge’s decisions on all prior motions and objections at a pretrial hearing. Defendant renewed all of his previous motions and objections at the second trial. ¶ 32. Evidence is relevant if it has “any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” V.R.E. 401. The court instructed the jury that it could draw an inference in favor of the defendant if the jury did not find the State’s explanation for why the evidence was not collected and tested to be adequate. The proffered testimony would challenge that explanation. It was therefore relevant, and the trial court erred in excluding the testimony on that basis. We make no ruling, however, on whether the testimony was otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence. Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this decision . FOR THE COURT: