Opinion ID: 199496
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Proffered Expert Testimony.

Text: 20 The appellant next assigns error to the district court's refusal to allow a proffered expert witness, Dr. Aloysius Lugira, to testify on the linguistic and cultural traits of the Baganda tribe (to which the appellant belongs). The appellant argues that this testimony, if admitted, would have aided the jury in assessing his ability to understand the forms that he signed (and, therefore, his culpability vel non on the two false statement counts). 21 Federal Rule of Evidence 702 provides in relevant part 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, as long as certain conditions are satisfied. When the issue is whether expert testimony will (or will not) materially assist a jury within the intendment of this rule, trial courts enjoy considerable latitude in deciding whether to admit or exclude it. See United States v. Ladd, 885 F.2d 954, 959 (1st Cir. 1989); United States v. Wilson, 798 F.2d 509, 517 (1st Cir. 1986). As we wrote some fourteen years ago: 22 The trial judge has a hands-on familiarity with the nuances of the case - nuances which may not survive transplantation into a cold appellate record. Thus, the district court's assessment of what will or will not assist the jury is entitled to considerable deference in the Rule 702 milieu. 23 United States v. Hoffman, 832 F.2d 1299, 1310 (1st Cir. 1987). 24 We review the district court's rulings on the admission or exclusion of expert testimony for abuse of discretion. United States v. Montas, 41 F.3d 775, 783 (1st Cir. 1994). We discern no such abuse in the lower court's refusal to admit the proffered testimony anent linguistic and cultural traits associated with the Baganda tribe. The court considered the proffer fully and concluded that Dr. Lugira's proposed testimony was grounded primarily in anecdotal experiences and was speculative at best. In the court's view, this testimony would not materially assist the jury in assessing the appellant's ability to comprehend customs forms. We explain briefly why this determination was well within the encincture of the lower court's discretion. 25 To the extent that the proffered testimony concerned Bagandan cultural tribal traits and customs (including affability), the connection between it and the issues in the case seems tenuous at best. To the extent that the proffered testimony concerned tribal forms of nonverbal communication, the appellant employed none in this instance (and, thus, the testimony seems totally irrelevant). Finally, to the extent that the proffered testimony concerned linguistic aptitude, it was simply unnecessary. 26 One of the criteria for the admission of expert testimony under Rule 702 is whether a lay person can be expected to decide the issue intelligently without an expert's help. See United States v. Salimonu, 182 F.3d 63, 73-74 (1st Cir. 1999); United States v. Brien, 59 F.3d 274, 277 (1st Cir. 1995); see also Ruiz-Troche v. Pepsi Cola of P.R. Bottling Co., 161 F.3d 77, 81 (1st Cir. 1998). Here, common sense supports the district court's determination that jurors would understand, without the aid of expert testimony, that an individual whose primary language is other than English might have difficulty comprehending bureaucratic forms. 27