Opinion ID: 768682
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Merit of Expert Testimony on Eyewitness Identifications

Text: 73 The trepidation with which nearly all appellate courts have treated this subject is representative of a broader reluctance, which I share, to admit the expert testimony of social scientists with the same deference given to the testimony of those in the physical sciences. I do not seek to discredit the value of these researchers' work; the ever-expanding psychological disciplines have done much in the past several decades to explode commonly held misconceptions and enrich our understanding of human behaviors. As even those courts most opposed to admitting the testimony in court have acknowledged, those benefits include an enhanced insight into the fallibility of eyewitness identification that can inform our trial procedures. See,e.g., Hall, 165 F.3d at 1104. The difficulty arises in treating psychological theories as if they were as demonstrably reliable as the laws of physics. Conclusions reached by applying the laws of all but the most theoretical of physical sciences to a particular set of facts are verifiable through replication; disagreements between dueling experts in the physical sciences (e.g., accident reconstructionists or DNA experts) typically focus on the data to which the scientific method is applied, which is subject to objective analysis. The certainty of the testimony of social scientists, however, is limited by the nature of their field. They typically base their opinions on studies of small groups of people under laboratory conditions; those studies are then interpreted and extrapolated to predict the likelihood that another person under similar but non-controlled conditions will manifest similar behavior. Each step of this analysis--the choice of sample and control groups, the conditions under which they are observed, the cause and nature of the observed behavior, and the likelihood that the observed behavior will be replicated by a different person in a non-controlled setting--is influenced by the personal opinion of the individual expert. Nor will there be much similarity between the persons typically studied by social scientists and the witnesses in any given criminal trial. The studies are virtually always based on college students or other readily available test subjects in a controlled environment (which are the most easily measurable), not individuals involved in real world incidents such as actual robbery victims. See, e.g., United States v. Hines, 55 F.Supp.2d 62, 72 (D. Mass. 1999) (assessing relevance of studies of college students); Brian L. Cutler and Steven D. Penrod, Assessing the Accuracy of Eye-Witness Identifications, in Handbook of Psychology in Legal Contexts 193 (R. Bull and D. Carson ed. 1995) (Attachment E to Smithers's Motion in Limine) (Most of what is known about the psychology of eye-witness memory has been acquired through laboratory experiments). The limits of social science testimony were aptly expressed in Gacy v. Welborn, 994 F.2d 305, 313-14 (7th Cir. 1993): 74 Social science has challenged many premises of the jury system. Students of the subject believe, for example, that jurors give too much weight to eyewitness evidence and not enough weight to other kinds. Still, the ability of jurors to sift good evidence from bad is an axiom of the system, so courts not only permit juries to decide these cases but also bypass the sort of empirical findings that might help jurors reach better decisions. Juries have a hard time distinguishing junk science from the real thing, but aside from some tinkering with the expert testimony admitted at trial, this shortcoming has been tolerated. Jurors reach compromise verdicts, although they aren't supposed to. Juries return inconsistent verdicts, representing irrational behavior or disobedience to their instructions. Juries act in ways no reasonable person would act. This is the standard for granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict in a civil case, or acquittal after verdict in a criminal case, or reducing an award of damages, and there are plenty of occasions for these post-verdict correctives. Yet for all of this, courts do not discard the premises of the jury system, postulates embedded in the Constitution and thus, within our legal system, unassailable. This shows up in a striking fact about the Supreme Court's treatment of social science: of the 92 cases between 1970 and 1988 addressing issues of evidence and trial procedure, not one relied on the extensive body of evidence about jurors' conduct. 75 (citations omitted). 76 No psychological study will ever bear directly on the specific persons making an eyewitness identification in court; psychological experts will always be forced to extrapolate from studies done on other people and opine on the relevance such data might have to the facts at hand.Cross-examination of the identifying witnesses, on the other hand, will always provide more relevant testimony, because by definition the inquiry is limited to what the eyewitnesses themselves saw and experienced. See Smith, 122 F.3d at 1359 (defendants who want to attack the reliability of eyewitness recollection are free to use the powerful tool of cross-examination to do so). Indeed, to a certain extent, lawyers are abdicating their own roles when they seek to rely on experts instead of cross-examination to discredit an eyewitness identification. See Amaral, 488 F.2d at 1153 (Our legal system places primary reliance for the ascertainment of truth on the test of cross-examination. [...] It is the responsibility of counsel during cross-examination to inquire into the witness' opportunity for observation, his capacity for observation, his attention and interest and his distraction or division of attention (internal quotations and citations omitted)). The witness's cross-examination testimony can then be framed as the defendant chooses in closing argument to maximize its potential to undermine the identification. See Currie, 515 S.E.2d at 339. What the defendant is unable to establish by these means--e.g., the counter-intuitive concept suggested by psychological research that confidence in one's recollection does not necessarily reflect accuracy--can be ably communicated by the court in its jury instructions. Instructions have an advantage over experts in that they can be informed by advances in social science research while communicating only those theories that are relevant to the facts of the case, and avoiding the extra delay and expense of producing and rebutting expert testimony, all without the imprimatur of scientific reliability that accompanies expert testimony. Certainly the utility of jury instructions in these situations was aptly demonstrated in this case, where the district court skillfully addressed Smithers's concerns by adopting an instruction specifically tailored to explain the possible deficiencies of the identifications in this case. In any event, given the utility of cross-examination and jury instructions combined, it is little wonder that the vast majority of appellate cases have found the choice of these mechanisms over expert testimony, even if the expert may have some particular insight that would not be otherwise revealed, not to be an abuse of the district court's broad discretion under Kumho Tire, Daubert, and Rule 702. See Moore, 882 F.2d at 1110-11; Hall, 165 F.3d at 1107; Smith, 122 F.3d at 1358-59; Hicks, 103 F.3d at 847; Kime, 99 F.3d at 884; Ginn, 87 F.3d at 370; Rincon, 28 F.3d at 925-26; Jordan, 983 F.2d at 938-39; Curry, 977 F.2d at 1051; Blade, 811 F.2d at 464-65; Moore, 786 F.2d at 1311-12; Fosher, 590 F.2d at 382; McClendon, 730 A.2d at 1115-16; McMullen, 714 So.2d at 370; Gaines, 926 P.2d at 662-63; Buell, 489 N.E.2d at 803-04; Currie, 515 S.E.2d at 339. 77 The presence of a person labeled an expert by the court in the witness stand inevitably carries the risk of jurors' accepting that person's testimony as scientifically irrefutable truth. This simple fact underlies the special importance given to the court's gatekeeping function with expert testimony, and it is in the majority's flat rejection of this concept that its reasoning is the shakiest. In its fifth footnote, the majority observes: it appears the trial court thought the expert nature of the testimony would unduly impress the jury; this is an improper factor upon which to exclude expert testimony, for if this were the test, no expert could ever testify. While it may be correct as a hypothetical matter that exclusion of a witness solely because he was an expert would be an abuse of discretion, that is simply not what occurred here. Rather, the court reasoned that cross-examination and a jury instruction were preferable to permitting the jury to hear testimony that was only marginally relevant and demonstrably prejudicial to the Government. The court was in good company in this conclusion. Daubert itself observed that [e]xpert testimony can be both powerful and quite misleading becauseof the difficulty in evaluating it. Because of this risk, the judge in weighing possible prejudice against probative force under Rule 403 . . . exercises more control over experts than over lay witnesses. 509 U.S. at 595. A number of other courts addressing eyewitness identification expert testimony have explicitly cited the expert's aura of reliability as a prejudicial factor weighing against its admissibility. See Lumpkin, 192 F.3d at 289; Brien, 59 F.3d at 276-77; Blade, 811 F.2d at 465; United States v. Purham, 725 F.2d 450, 454 (8th Cir. 1984); Fosher, 590 F.2d at 383-84 (collecting cases referencing the aura of reliability); Downing, 609 F.Supp. 784; United States v. Collins, 395 F.Supp. 629, 636-37 (M.D. Penn. 1975). The majority's citation-free asseveration on this subject is simply untenable. 78 Expert testimony on eyewitness identifications can also be unduly prejudicial when it is phrased so as to comment directly on the credibility of the eyewitness. No court in any context would allow one witness to testify to the credibility of another, because assessment of the credibility of witnesses in our legal system is the sole province of the jury. See Greenwell, 184 F.3d at 496; Gacy, 994 F.2d at 313-14; Murrian, supra, at 380. As illustrated above, a number of courts have cited this tenet as a basis for excluding eyewitness identification experts. That threat was also present in this case, as the majority points out, because Dr. Fulero proposed to testify, among other things, that the eyewitnesses would have observed and been able to recall the large scar on Mr. Smithers' neck. That deformity would have been more memorable to the witnesses. The majority opinion says that the solution to this admittedly inadmissible testimony is simply to excise the offending language. This ignores the fact that at the second hearing, Smithers identified the scar as the key issue that [Fulero] would address. Removing this aspect of Fulero's testimony would gut the remainder of the majority's reasoning as to why Fulero's testimony should have been admitted. Nor is this one sentence the only example of how Fulero's testimony would have stepped over the line. Smithers argued in his renewed motion that Fulero would testify regarding the perception of the bank robber by [the witnesses] and how [various factors] are directly related to the accuracy of their identification testimony. (emphasis added). Again: Fulero would thus testify that the photo spread procedures, and the witness' numerous meetings with the police, FBI, and each other, would have directly influenced the witness' ability to recall the particular characteristics of the bank robber with any degree of accuracy. (emphasis added). Other portions of the motion are phrased in a more appropriate form, indicating that Fulero would testify to research data as it relates to particular conditions experienced by the witnesses, leaving the application of that information to counsel and the jury. But these examples more than adequately justify the district court's conclusion that Fulero (who, incidentally, is also an attorney) would have acted as more of an advocate than a scientific expert in this case. The majority's decision merely to excise the offending portions of the testimony not only leaves very little testimony that is even arguably relevant, but relieves Smithers of his burden of proving that the testimony he proffered is admissible. Once again, the blame for Fulero's exclusion lies not with the district court's legal analysis but with Smithers's inadequate production. 79 The cases holding that expert testimony regarding eyewitness identification is too general and those finding that it comments too directly on witness credibility delimit the narrow range of circumstances in which this testimony is properly admissible. Unless a very small number of eyewitness identifications form the only evidentiary basis for a conviction, and the proffered testimony relates directly to the facts of the case without commenting on the eyewitnesses' credibility, the need for this testimony will simply not be so great that alternative means of cautioning thejury on this subject will not suffice. See, e.g, Rincon, 28 F.3d at 923-26. The existence of other inculpatory evidence will usually render any error in excluding the expert testimony harmless. See Smith, 736 F.2d at 1107; Hall, 165 F.3d at 1107-08; Smith, 156 F.3d at 1053-54; Blade, 811 F.2d at 465; Moore, 786 F.2d at 1313. Here, the fact that three witnesses identified Smithers adds to the probability of their accuracy. Moreover, the Government presented the identification of Smithers's car at the bank, the photo analysis showing that Smithers and the robber shared the rare characteristic of being over 6'5 tall, and a series of lies Smithers told police regarding his whereabouts. While this is not overwhelming evidence, it does alleviate considerably any concern that Smithers was convicted solely on the basis of erroneous eyewitness testimony. 80 The various failings in Fulero's proposed testimony accentuate the jurisprudential danger posed by the majority's opinion. Its tangible eagerness to find that the district court abused its discretion in excluding this testimony is likely to set a precedent requiring admission of evidence tending to erode further the jury's responsibility for making credibility determinations. Other courts have recognized this danger and steered clear of it. See, e.g., Alexander, 816 F.2d at 169 (Requiring the admission of the expert testimony proffered in Moore would have established a rule that experts testifying generally as to the value of eyewitness testimony would have to be allowed to testify in every case in which eyewitness testimony is relevant. This would constitute a gross overburdening of the trial process by testimony about matters which juries have always been deemed competent to evaluate); United States v. Thevis, 665 F.2d 616, 641 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982) (To admit such testimony in effect would permit the proponent's witness to comment on the weight and credibility of opponents' witnesses and open the door to a barrage of marginally relevant psychological evidence); Sabetta, 680 A.2d at 933 (it would effectively invade the province of the jury and . . . open a floodgate whereby experts would testify on every conceivable aspect of a witness's credibility). The logical conclusion of today's holding--if not its implicit intent--is likely to be precisely this type of snowball effect in our circuit. 81 Acutely aware of the dangers of permitting expert testimony without a rigorous performance of the gatekeeping function, Daubert observed: 82 It is true that open debate is an essential part of both legal and scientific analyses. Yet there are important differences between the quest for truth in the courtroom and the quest for truth in the laboratory. Scientific conclusions are subject to perpetual revision. Law, on the other hand, must resolve disputes finally and quickly. The scientific project is advanced by broad and wide-ranging consideration of a multitude of hypotheses, for those that are incorrect will eventually be shown to be so, and that in itself is an advance. Conjectures that are probably wrong are of little use, however, in the project of reaching a quick, final, and binding legal judgment--often of great consequence--about a particular set of events in the past. We recognize that, in practice, a gatekeeping role for the judge, no matter how flexible, inevitably on occasion will prevent the jury from learning of authentic insights and innovations. That, nevertheless, is the balance that is struck by Rules of Evidence designed not for the exhaustive search for cosmic understanding but for the particularized resolution of legal disputes. 83 509 U.S. at 596-97. I fear that the majority's opinion here will only undermine the balance between truth-seeking and fairness that the Rules have so carefully crafted, without adding much at all to the efficacy--at least in this circuit--of criminal justice. Indeed, the majority here holds that Expert testimony regarding eyewitness identificationmust be recognized as scientifically commensurate with all other psychological studies, and may often be a valid source of information to help jurors understand the factors that effect [sic] eyewitness identifications. The effect of the majority's opinion is to establish the district court as the gatekeeper with discretion only to admit, but not to exclude, expert testimony relative to eyewitness identification. 84 For all of the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent. Notes: 1 Contrary to the majority's characterization of this citation, I do not offer this quotation as a holy writ or rigid test that the district court should have adhered to, but rather as a common-sense explanation of Smithers's burden to establish the relevance of his proffered testimony to the case. For this reason, the Stevens court's reasoning--or, for that matter, the identical emphasis on specificity in our Smith decision-- is made no less valid by the fact that it pre-dates Daubert. 2 Tellingly, the district court on remand again dismissed the testimony, this time as unhelpful to the jury and more prejudicial to the prosecution than it was probative to the defense. See 609 F.Supp. 784 (E.D. Pa. 1985). The judgment was affirmed without opinion. See No. 85-1359, 780 F.2d 1017 (3d Cir. Nov. 25, 1985) (table). 3 The only assertion made in this memorandum that could arguably be considered specific to Fulero's testimony in this case is the reference to the known rate of error. This brief discussion actually originated from Smithers's recitation of the Daubert analysis. Smithers was unclear how the third step in the Daubert analysis, reviewing the rate of known error, would apply to this form of scientific testimony. Not only is this rate-of-error inquiry not a stepmandated by Daubert but simply one of its general observations, Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593-94, it is also clearly inapplicable in this case. Daubert cited as an example of scientific testimony the Seventh Circuit's treatment of spectrographic voice identification technique. One method of examining this technique's reliability was to ask how often it produced an erroneous result. Here, the proposed technique is of the exactly opposite type; it seeks not to make an identification, but to explain the reasons why an identification may be incorrect. Hence, a proper analogy to this Daubert observation might be to ask how often this technique correctly ascertains that an identification is wrong. Nevertheless, Smithers continued: [T]he question of known rate of error is addressed by the [Handberg] article included as Attachment C . . . . This article analyzes in detail the effect that certain variables are likely to have on the ability of eyewitnesses to correctly identify persons they have previously seen, pointing out the rate of error in making identifications. [This] forms parts of the scientific basis of Dr. Fulero's testimony. This passing reference was Smithers's entire treatment of the rate of error issue, and does not provide the needed specificity. 4 The Government noted that Fulero's testimony . . . would likewise be of dubious assistance to the jury. His testimony does not relate to a specific fact in this case, such as the efficacy of the photo spread. Instead, defendant will offer his testimony regarding the general problems arising from eyewitness identification, in contrast to the specific issues that were presented in the Smith case. 5 Smithers now proposed to have Fulero testify to the efficacy of the photo spread, despite having no response to the Government's observation in its prior brief that Smithers had thus far proposed no such thing. 6 As I believe my discussion here makes clear, I understand delay to mean prolonging of the length of the trial, and not, as the majority suggests I mean, merely filed late. This certainly appears to have been the district court's understanding as well, since its ruling was made immediately before Smithers rested his case, and granting the motion would have required a lengthy voir dire, more preparation by the Government, and the direct and cross-examination of Dr. Fulero. 7 Of course, in order to perform a more detailed inquiry next time, the district court should have the discretion to require Smithers to present his witness for voir dire, or at least to make an effort to present a sufficiently detailed proffer in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, the majority's opinion would appear to curtain that discretion considerably, if, indeed, the majority's opinion leaves any room for the district court to perform any further inquiry at all.