Opinion ID: 1466974
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Penrod's Testimony

Text: The trial court did not state with particularity the rule or rules of evidence that it relied upon to exclude Dr. Penrod's testimony. Moreover, the State made no formal motion to exclude the testimony following the voir dire. In its brief on appeal the State argues that the testimony was inadmissible under M.R.Evid. 402, 403 or 702. Whatever the precise ground for exclusion, Tellier did preserve the issue for appeal by making an offer of proof. Unless the trial court clearly erred or abused its discretion, however, the evidentiary ruling will stand. See State v. Anaya, 438 A.2d 892, 894 (Me.1981); Field & Murray, Maine Evidence § 702.1, at 171 (1976). The defendant's main theory in presenting Dr. Penrod's testimony was to establish that he had a motive other than guilt to confess the crime to his ex-girlfriends. [3] An essential aspect of Dr. Penrod's testimony was that in the context of a sensational, widely reported murder case occurring in a metropolitan area, false confessions are a known phenomenon that may occur. Dr. Penrod offered no opinion with respect to whether Tellier's admissions were in fact false, nor did he examine Tellier or inform himself of Tellier's psychological profile. He merely testified that based on his understanding of the Tellier murder case, [4] he could not rule out the possibility that the admissions were false. Dr. Penrod knew of no empirical studies with respect to the frequency of false confessions in cases of this type. The defendant contends that Dr. Penrod's testimony was critical because it would have provided the jury with background information about false confessions in general. Aided by this background information, argues Tellier, the jury would have been better able to evaluate the credibility of the admissions. M.R.Evid. 702 gives to the trial court discretion with respect to whether expert testimony should be made available to a jury. The rule provides: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. Thus, as we noted in State v. Flick, 425 A.2d 167, 170 (Me.1981): The presiding justice may exclude an expert's opinion under M.R.Evid. 702 if he finds that it would not be within the expert's specialized knowledge or would not be helpful to the jury. He may also exclude it if he finds it irrelevant under M.R.Evid. 401 and 402, or if its probative value would be outweighed by the countervailing considerations of M.R.Evid. 403. In our view, Dr. Penrod's testimony was properly excluded by the trial court under M.R.Evid. 403 because its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of confusing the issues and of misleading the jury that admission of the testimony would have generated. The defendant contends that he should be given wide latitude in presenting his defense, especially when the State's case hinges on the credibility of extra-judicial admissions. Any evidence that would assist a jury in evaluating credibility, argues Tellier, should be admitted. We agree with Tellier that a defendant should be given wide latitude in presenting evidence relevant to his defense. Dr. Penrod's testimony, however, amounted to nothing more than an assertion that false confessions do occur. His testimony was so abstract, vague and speculative that its relevance and probative value was virtually nil. The court acted within sound judicial discretion in excluding Dr. Penrod's testimony.