Opinion ID: 3002005
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Stribling’s Testimony

Text: Diekhoff also argues that the district court erred in allowing Dr. Stribling to testify as to certain parts of her conversations with him. In the course of her testimony, the government asked Dr. Stribling—testifying as an No. 07-1432 13 expert—to “tell us what [Diekhoff] told you the best that you can recall.” Dr. Stribling’s response was that Diekhoff had said “When I kidnapped the girl, I needed help. I knew it was wrong. It was also wrong for me to want to kill myself and I’m sorry.” Diekhoff claims that this testimony violated Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) because it constituted expert opinion as to whether he was sane. That rule states No expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state or condition of a defendant in a criminal case may state an opinion or inference as to whether the defendant did or did not have the mental state or condition constituting an element of the crime charged or of a defense thereto. Such ultimate issues are matters for the trier of fact alone. FED. R. EVID. 704(b). The “mental state or condition” offered as a “defense” to the “crime charged” was Diekhoff’s sanity. And deciding whether Diekhoff was sane involved examining whether, “as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, [he] was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts.” 18 U.S.C. § 17(a). Thus, Diekhoff argues, when Dr. Stribling passed along his statement that he “knew [the kidnapping] was wrong,” this constituted an “expert witness . . . stat[ing] an opinion or inference as to whether” he was sane at the time, violating Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b). We do not accept this argument. We are careful not to flyspeck the district court’s exercise of its discretion in admitting evidence and so we “will only overturn such rulings for a clear abuse of that discretion.” United States v. Reno, 992 F.2d 739, 742 (7th Cir. 1993). When a psychiatrist testifies as to her assessment of the defendant’s sanity, she must toe the line 14 No. 07-1432 between providing insight into the defendant’s mental state and actually indicating whether she thinks the defendant is insane. This is because “[t]he purpose of Rule 704(b) is to have jurors decide whether the defendant was sane or not without being told what conclusion an expert might draw.” United States v. West, 962 F.3d 1243, 1247 (7th Cir. 1992). So the expert can set out her “[m]edical and psychological knowledge” regarding the “mental disease or defect” that may affect the defendant because this information “help[s] the jury understand mental illness and its symptoms and effects.” Reno, 992 F.2d at 742; United States v. Brown, 32 F.3d 236, 239 (7th Cir. 1994); see also FED. R. EVID. 702. But she cannot say or give an obvious inference that she thinks that the mental illness clouded the defendant’s ability to distinguish right from wrong. West, 962 F.2d at 1246. This kind of testimony would involve a legal conclusion (or more accurately a factlaw conclusion), and experts cannot make those. The issue here is whether Dr. Stribling “state[d] an opinion or inference” about Diekhoff’s mental state at the time of the kidnapping. At the outset, it is clear that Dr. Stribling was not “stat[ing] an opinion” during the disputed portions of her testimony. Instead, she was relaying Diekhoff’s statement to her about the crime. And these facts included an admission that he knew what he was doing was wrong. Although this observation was probative of the ultimate issue, it did not result from Dr. Stribling’s expertise or the application of her technical knowledge to the facts of the case. United States v. Romero, 189 F.3d 576, 586 (7th Cir. 1999) (“His testimony did not amount to a statement of his belief about what specifically was going through [the defendant’s] mind . . . .”). It was thus not her “opinion.” No. 07-1432 15 Diekhoff argues next that Dr. Stribling’s statement was sufficient to raise an “inference” that he knew right from wrong. This is certainly the case. A sane person would say that he knew right from wrong, and Dr. Stribling testified that Diekhoff had said as much. But this is not the kind of “inference” that Rule 704(b) prohibits. An expert’s testimony frequently gives rise to “inferences” that bear on the ultimate issue. Otherwise, it is doubtful that the expert’s testimony would be helpful to the jury. United States v. Foster, 939 F.2d 445, 454 (7th Cir. 1991). And an expert can even “suggest[ ] . . . inferences that embrace an ultimate issue.” Brown, 7 F.3d at 651. But to fall within Rule 704(b)’s prohibition, the testimony must give rise to an obvious “inference” regarding the expert’s “opinion” as to the ultimate issue, not an “inference” with respect to the defendant’s “mental state.” That is, it must be a round-about effort by the expert to impermissibly express her “opinion.” Here, Dr. Stribling testified: Diekhoff said “I knew it was wrong.” There was no embellishment to this statement indicating whether Dr. Stribling thought this showed sanity or insanity. Although one can infer that this is the statement of a sane person, such an inference stems from a general understanding about how the world works—not Dr. Stribling’s expertise or the fact that one could clearly infer her opinion as to Diekhoff’s sanity from this statement. Finally, although Diekhoff’s statement to Dr. Stribling was certainly prejudicial, it was not unduly so. FED. R. EVID. 403. It is difficult to imagine a more probative statement of a defendant’s sanity than his own admission that he “knew [committing the crime] was wrong.” See Ewing, 494 F.3d at 616 (“[C]ertain evidence in the record indicating the defendant knew 16 No. 07-1432 his conduct was illegal was properly considered on the issue of whether he was able to appreciate its wrongfulness.”). And the prejudice from this statement was not unfair because it would not have led the jury to conclude that he was sane for an illegitimate reason. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the testimony.