Opinion ID: 1872240
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Firearms Expert Testimony.

Text: Prior to trial, Mason filed a motion in limine seeking to prevent the State from presenting evidence regarding firearm examination, toolmark examination, rifling characteristics examination, comparison testing or manufacturer identification completed on bullets or shell casings in this case. He asserted that such evidence did not meet the foundation requirements set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579[, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469] (1993) and adopted by the Nebraska Supreme Court in Schafersman v. Agland Coop., 262 Neb. 215[, 631 N.W.2d 862] (2001). Mason requested an evidentiary hearing to determine the reliability of such evidence and whether the witness who would present such testimony was an expert and would give relevant testimony. In response to the motion in limine, the court ordered the State's expert to submit himself for a deposition and ordered Mason to file a specifications [sic] of the inadequacies of the expert's testimony in sufficient detail to permit the state to respond, together with all documentary evidence he intends to rely on and a brief in support thereof. The court further ordered the State to respond to Mason's filing, ordered Mason to file a reply to the State's response, and set a hearing date. The State's firearms expert, Mark S. Bohaty, gave a deposition on January 16, 2004, in which he was questioned by Mason. The State was present at the deposition but did not question Bohaty. Thereafter, Mason filed a second motion in limine in which he argued, inter alia, that the evidence was not relevant because the expert could only testify as to what might have happened; that any probative value of the evidence would be outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, because the expert's conclusions were based on conjecture; that reliability of the expert's theory and methodology had not been established, because the expert only provided his opinion as to such reliability and did not provide any documentation of testing of such reliability; and that the expert had not provided documentation to show that the instruments he used were routinely tested and assessed to ensure accuracy. At the hearing on Mason's motion in limine, the State entered into evidence the laboratory report of Bohaty's firearms testing. In addition, because Bohaty had testified at the separate trial of Mason's cousin regarding much the same matters to which Bohaty was going to testify in Mason's trial, the State offered the bill of exceptions from the cousin's trial. On February 25, 2004, the court entered an order overruling the motion in limine. The court stated in the order, inter alia, that the testimony Sgt. Bohaty intends to offer will address the bullets retrieved from the body of the victim in this case,... King, shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, the type of firearms that would make the markings found on the bullets, and a comparison of the appearance of those firearms to descriptions of the firearm used in this shooting. Regarding Mason's challenge to the reliability of Bohaty's expert testimony, the court generally found that there was no evidence to suggest that the methodology Bohaty used to form his opinions was unreliable, that Bohaty appeared well qualified to render such opinions, that the opinions Bohaty intended to offer did not appear to overreach the techniques he used to reach his conclusions, and that the techniques he used were accepted in the firearms identification community. The court therefore denied Mason's motion in limine. When Bohaty testified at trial, Mason renewed his objection based on the motion in limine. The court overruled the objection and noted Mason's continuing objection. Bohaty generally testified regarding his qualifications and the reliability of the methods he used to form his expert opinions. He testified that he had examined the bullets and cartridges related to King's shooting and that although he could not positively identify the bullets as having come from the same gun, the markings on the bullets were consistent with their having been fired from one gun. Bohaty also testified that from his examination of the markings on the bullets, he determined that they had been fired from one of two types of guns, one of which was a Tech-22. Prentice had testified that Mason had a Tech-22 with him on the day of the shooting. The Tech-22 was not located. Bohaty was shown a drawing of a gun made by Wagy in which she described the gun Mason had, and Bohaty testified that the drawing was consistent with the appearance of a Tech-22.