Opinion ID: 1441425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Dr. Dutton's qualifications.

Text: Nixon next contends that [t]he admission of Dr. Dutton's expert testimony was reversible error because she was incapable of offering a reasonable opinion. He claims, inter alia, that Dr. Dutton's feminist bias, as described above, is so severe as to disqualify her from testifying as an expert. A reading of Dr. Dutton's comparatively lowkey testimony does not, in our view, reveal the prejudice or other shortcomings that counsel attributes to her. [19] Dr. Dutton, as we have noted, is an experienced psychologist. She has written and lectured widely on the subject of domestic violence. She testified that she had previously been qualified as an expert witness approximately seventy-five times. On their face, her qualifications appear unassailable. At trial, after the prosecutor had questioned Dr. Dutton regarding her background and experience, he tendered her as an expert witness, and Nixon's attorney explicitly conceded her expertise: MR. WU: [20] Your Honor, at this time, the United States would proffer Dr. Dutton as an expert in the field of domestic violence and the effects of battering. THE COURT: Mr. Tun, any objection? MR. TUN: [21] No, thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: The Court will accept Mary Ann Dutton as an expert in the field of domestic violence and the effects of battering. Moments later, while reiterating other objections, Nixon's attorney again stated that he was not challenging Dr. Dutton's qualifications. Under these circumstances, we view as patently frivolous the notion that the judge plainly erred by failing, sua sponte, to reject Dr. Dutton as an expert witness.