Opinion ID: 1755457
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Daubert Requirements for Cellular Location Data

Text: The defendant argues that the cellular location data, contained in exhibits 112 and 113 and explained by Filip and Broer, should not have been admitted without a Daubert inquiry. An expert's opinion is ordinarily admissible under Neb. Evid. R. 702, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 27-702 (Reissue 1995), if the witness (1) qualifies as an expert, (2) has an opinion that will assist the trier of fact, (3) states his or her opinion, and (4) is prepared to disclose the basis of that opinion on cross-examination. State v. Mason, 271 Neb. 16, 709 N.W.2d 638 (2006). When the opinion involves scientific or specialized knowledge, this court held in Schafersman v. Agland Coop, 262 Neb. 215, 631 N.W.2d 862 (2001), that we will apply the principles of Daubert, supra . See Mason, supra . Under our recent Daubert/Schafersman jurisprudence, the trial court acts as a gatekeeper to ensure the evidentiary relevance and reliability of an expert's opinion. This gatekeeping function entails a preliminary assessment whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is valid and whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Mason, supra . The principles articulated in Daubert and adopted by this court in Schafersman were based on Fed.R.Evid. 702, which was, at the time of Daubert, effectively identical to Nebraska's rule 702. Both rules provide that [i]f 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. But Daubert does not create a special analysis for answering questions about the admissibility of all expert testimony. City of Lincoln v. Realty Trust Group, 270 Neb. 587, 705 N.W.2d 432 (2005). Not every attack on expert testimony amounts to a Daubert claim. City of Lincoln, supra . Here, the defendant's purported Daubert claim is suspect because the defendant's Daubert objection was made, not to expert opinion testimony, but to business records evidencing historical facts. Moreover, even if the objection is extended to the testimony based upon those records, the testimony given was not expert opinion testimony. If a witness is not offering opinion testimony, that witness' testimony is not subject to inquiry pursuant to Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). See, Questar Pipeline Co. v. Grynberg, 201 F.3d 1277 (10th Cir.2000); Binakonsky v. Ford Motor Co., 133 F.3d 281 (4th Cir.1998); Gilbert v. Monaco Coach Corp., 352 F.Supp.2d 1336 (N.D.Ga.2004). Cf. Sedlak Aerial Spray v. Miller, 251 Neb. 45, 555 N.W.2d 32 (1996) (permitting expert witness to testify to personal knowledge). Daubert is inapplicable under such circumstances because it pertains to the validity of the reasoning or methodology underlying an expert's opinion. See, Binakonsky, supra ; Gilbert, supra . As the Gilbert court explained: In the paradigm Daubert situation, a party seeks to use an expert witness to opine regarding causation in a matter where a lay finder of fact would be unable to discern the cause of a particular event, absent some guidance by someone with more knowledge or experience than the layperson. In such cases, the expert is allowed to offer an opinion because the Court determines that the finder of fact would be otherwise unable to reach a conclusion merely through an assessment of the credibility of witnesses or through the operation of the finder's own inductive abilities. The operative task for the typical expert witness, then, is the presentation of an opinion, along with an explanation of the methodology that led to the formation of the particular opinion. 352 F.Supp.2d at 1340. Obviously, while that is a common example, not all expert opinions relate to causation. But regardless of the issue to which an expert opinion might be relevant, the fact remains that if no expert opinion is tendered, there is no basis for a Daubert inquiry. With that understood, it is evident that Daubert is not pertinent to exhibits 112 and 113. Those records contained nothing even resembling expert opinion testimony, since they did not refer to an expert, an opinion, or any testimony. They were, as previously detailed, computer-generated business records containing data of telephone calls made to and from the defendant's and the victim's cellular telephones. Any challenge to the reliability of those records, or the trustworthiness of the data they contained, would properly have been framed under rule 803(5), not rule 702 and Daubert. As explained above, however, the defendant failed to effectively make such a challenge. Even if the defendant's objections and argument are construed to address Broer's testimony relating to exhibits 112 and 113, Daubert remains inapplicable. Since Broer's testimony was based on his personal experience with the data and locations at issue, there is, initially, some question as to whether Broer testified as an expert under rule 702, as opposed to offering testimony based on personal knowledge pursuant to Neb. Evid. R. 602, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 27-602 (Reissue 1995). See Gordon v. State, 863 So.2d 1215 (Fla. 2003) (testimony of telephone company employee and police detective, regarding cellular telephone records and location of cellular sites, was not expert testimony, but based on personal knowledge). But even if Broer's testimony was based on scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge, there is little doubt that it assisted the trier of fact to understand the evidence and that Broer would have been qualified as an expert. See rule 702. Regardless, Broer's testimony was limited to explaining the data contained in exhibits 112 and 113, and he did not offer any opinions based on that data. Compare Pullin v. State, 272 Ga. 747, 534 S.E.2d 69 (2000) (inquiry into scientific theory required where expert opined, based on cellular telephone location data, that particular telephone calls could not have been made from location asserted by defendant). Since Broer offered no expert opinion, his testimony presented no basis for an inquiry into his reasoning or methodology pursuant to Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). To the extent that the defendant wanted to raise more general questions about the reliability of the records and the cellular location data, Broer was available for cross-examination on those issues. The trial court did not err in refusing to hold a Daubert hearing with respect to exhibits 112 and 113, and we have already rejected the defendant's argument under the business records exception. Therefore, the defendant's second assignment of error is without merit.