Opinion ID: 2097605
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Preservation of the Dyas First Prong Issue

Text: We first address the government's contention that Mr. Girardot did not preserve the claimed error relating to the first Dyas prong, and hence, our review is governed by the plain error standard. The government presses us to hold that because defense counsel did not specifically mention the Oliver case, Mr. Girardot waived the argument that, as a matter of law, the areas of Dr. Robbins's proposed testimony were beyond the ken of the average lay person. The summary of the trial court's discussion with defense and government counsel concerning Dr. Robbins's proposed testimony, detailed above, persuades us that Mr. Girardot preserved his claim that the trial court did not apply the correct legal standard with respect to the first Dyas prong, and thus, plain error review is inapplicable. Although the trial judge often articulated the first Dyas prong as whether the proffered testimony of Dr. Robbins' was outside of her personal ken or personal expertise, or was not helpful to her, defense counsel attempted to disabuse the trial court of the notion that the issue should be determined according to her ken; she argued that the question was broader than the trial court's personal knowledge and experience. Moreover, government counsel specifically referenced the Dyas test, and had quoted it in its written opposition to Mr. Girardot's notice about his proposed expert. Defense counsel's extensive proffer sought to demonstrate to the trial court that more is involved in this case than the usual credibility determinations of the trial judge; that (1) for psychological reasons related to a child's cognition, children may make false allegations about child abuse, and (2) scientific studies, which have delineated these cognitive factors and psychological dynamics, will be helpful to the trial court in resolving this case, or as we said in Burgess, to aid [... the trial court] in the search for truth. Id. at 1062 (brackets in original). Given the defense proffer and the government's specific reference to Dyas, we believe the trial court was fairly apprised as to the question on which [she] [was] being asked to rule. Bean v. Gutierrez, 980 A.2d 1090, 1094 (D.C.2009) (citation omitted); Hunter v. United States, 606 A.2d 139, 144 (D.C.1992). Moreover, the fact that defense counsel did not cite Oliver by name was not fatal to Mr. Girardot's preservation of the Dyas first prong issue. See Tindle v. United States, 778 A.2d 1077, 1082 (D.C.2001) (right to counsel claim under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981) was preserved even though defense counsel did not cite Edwards ). In short, we are satisfied that Mr. Girardot preserved the Dyas issue.