Opinion ID: 3002121
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of Trooper’s Testimony

Text: Ochoa-Zarate also argues that he should receive a new trial because the district court allowed Trooper Thulen to testify that based on his training and experience, it is not uncommon for a driver of a vehicle to consent to a search of a vehicle where drugs are ultimately found. We review a district court’s decision to admit evidence for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Conn, 297 F.3d 548, 553 (7th Cir. 2002). During its redirect examination of Trooper Thulen, the prosecutor asked whether there had ever been a time when a person consented to a search and later admitted knowing drugs were in the vehicle. The defense objected to the question as irrelevant, among other things, and the district court held a lengthy sidebar. During the sidebar, Ochoa-Zarate’s counsel further argued that the proposed testimony constituted expert testimony for which he had not received notice and that a question directed to knowledge should not be allowed. The government offered to rephrase the question in a manner that did not specifically ask about a person’s knowledge. Ultimately, the court sustained the defense’s objection to any questions as to why a defendant would consent in such a situation. It ruled, however, that it would allow the prosecutor to No. 06-3815 15 ask a question phrased as: “Based on your experience, is it uncommon for a driver to consent to search of an automobile that ultimately resulted in the presence of drugs?” Back again before the jury, the prosecutor’s examination of Thulen concluded with the following exchange: Q. Trooper Thulen, based on your training and experience, is it uncommon for a driver of a vehicle to give consent to search the vehicle where drugs are ultimately found in that vehicle? A. No, sir, it is not uncommon. This question was not exactly the question the district court had said it would allow during the sidebar. Instead, in front of the jury, the posed question asked the trooper to testify in part based on his “training.” Seizing on this discrepancy, Ochoa-Zarate maintains that the trooper’s response to the question before the jury constituted expert testimony for which he had not received proper notice. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(G) (stating that at defendant’s request, government must provide written summary of expert testimony it intends to use, including bases and reasons for those opinions). Although Ochoa-Zarate’s brief focuses principally on whether the testimony was expert (rather than lay) testimony, a threshold question is whether the testimony was relevant. Federal Rule of Evidence 401 defines “relevant evidence” as “evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable 16 No. 06-3815 than it would be without the evidence.” One fact of consequence at trial was whether Ochoa-Zarate knew the drugs were in the minivan. But the government agrees that the testimony suggested nothing about OchoaZarate’s knowledge of the drugs, so we can eliminate that possible basis. The district court also did not rest on that rationale, instead ultimately allowing the testimony because it wanted the jury to know that the trooper was not doing anything unreasonable when he searched the vehicle even though he had received consent. On appeal, the government maintains that the testimony “enhanced the trooper’s credibility by helping to explain why his actions were reasonable.” That argument might hold water if the court was considering whether to grant a motion by Ochoa-Zarate to suppress the evidence on the basis that his consent was involuntary. But Ochoa-Zarate admits (and even emphasizes) that he voluntarily consented to the search, so we do not see how this testimony was relevant on the basis argued by the government here. Cf. United States v. Gastiaburo, 16 F.3d 582, 588-89 (4th Cir. 1994) (affirming, without discussing relevancy, admission of officer’s testimony that it is not uncommon for person transporting controlled substances to grant consent to law enforcement officers to search their possessions or their persons). In any event, the primary dispute on appeal is over whether the evidence was expert or lay testimony. Trooper Thulen responded to a question that asked him to testify based on his “training and experience.” Federal Rule of Evidence 702 provides: No. 06-3815 17 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, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case. When the lay testimony rule (Rule 701) was amended in 2000, the Advisory Committee wrote that the amendment was made “to eliminate the risk that the reliability requirements set forth in Rule 702 will be evaded through the simple expedient of proferring an expert in lay witness clothing.” So we are careful to examine whether “although ostensibly couched as a matter of [the agent’s] direct observation,” testimony by a law enforcement agent is in reality expert testimony. United States v. Oriedo, 498 F.3d 593, 603 (7th Cir. 2007). Here, the government maintains that Trooper Thulen merely testified to what he saw with his own eyes during his previous consent searches. Ochoa-Zarate, however, emphasizes that the question posed to the trooper asked him to answer based not just on his personal observation, but also on the basis of his “training.” Adding the “training” qualification tended to make the question sound as though it asked for a response based on information broader than merely what the trooper had observed with 18 No. 06-3815 his own eyes. See United States v. Garcia, 413 F.3d 201, 216 (2d Cir. 2005); United States v. Lopez-Moreno, 420 F.3d 420, 439 (5th Cir. 2005) (King, J., concurring); Conn, 297 F.3d at 553-55. Although the question the district court told the government it would allow did not include the word “training,” Ochoa-Zarate did not object when the prosecutor asked the question before the jury, which could have rectified the situation. At any rate, we do not find an error requiring reversal here in this case. See Oriedo, 498 F.3d at 604 (applying harmless error test to claim that court erroneously admitted expert testimony that was not disclosed to the defense). The testimony here was brief, the district court did not allow the prosecutor to ask whether any searchconsenting drivers typically know that their vehicles contain contraband, and, as we have already discussed, the evidence against Ochoa-Zarate was overwhelming. The challenged testimony, in contrast, was no more significant than testimony to which we attributed no reversible error in a factually similar case, United States v. Navarro, 90 F.3d 1245 (7th Cir. 1996). There, the prosecutor asked a DEA agent whether it was common, given the number of cases he had handled, to find drugs after someone had given consent to search. Id. at 1261. The agent responded that it was common and had happened in his experience many times. The prosecutor then asked the agent to give his opinion as to why an individual would consent knowing that drugs were present. The agent answered that Hispanics from outside the United States grant permission more readily than most people because of “the way the police work in other countries.” On appeal, No. 06-3815 19 the defendant did not challenge the agent’s testimony that he commonly found drugs during consent searches and instead challenged only the agent’s opinion, and we characterized even the officer’s opinion testimony as “of little significance” and found no reversible error. Id. at 1263. Ochoa-Zarate also had the opportunity to cross-examine the trooper on the basis of his conclusion, even though he chose not to do so. Cf. United States v. Pree, 408 F.3d 855, 870-71 (7th Cir. 2005). The government had represented to the court and defense counsel that Trooper Thulen had stopped thousands of people on the highway, had made fifty major drug seizures, and had received consent to search in over half those cases, so OchoaZarate had information to cross-examine the trooper on this point had he chosen to do so. Any error in admitting Trooper Thulen’s testimony does not require a new trial. Finally, we note that in light of the weight of the evidence of Ochoa-Zarate’s guilt, the combination of the prosecutor’s comments in rebuttal and the admission of the challenged testimony do not warrant a new trial.