Opinion ID: 1819311
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Expert Hair Analysis Testimony

Text: Hitchcock argues that his constitutional rights were violated when the State failed to disclose the deficiencies of hair analyst Diana Bass and then knowingly presented her incompetent and false testimony in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972); that guilt-phase counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the admissibility of Bass's testimony; and that this newly discovered evidence of Bass's incompetence undermined confidence in his conviction. At trial, Diana Bass testified as an expert hair analyst. She compared thirty hair samples taken from the victim's body against various standards consisting of hairs taken from the victim, Hitchcock, and Richard, and testified that three of the samples were consistent in microscopic appearance with Hitchcock's pubic hair. At the postconviction hearing, Hitchcock called as witnesses Bass and two of her former supervisors, Robert Kopec and Steven Platt. Robert Kopec testified that he evaluated Bass's performance in 1978 and concluded that she was not following the basic procedures to secure the integrity of the evidence that she was handling. Steven Platt confirmed that Bass was the expert referred to in Peek v. State, 488 So.2d 52 (Fla.1986), whose testimony was discredited. Bass admitted that she was inadequately trained and that she had left hair samples out overnight against procedure on at least one occasion. Turning to Hitchcock's newly discovered evidence claim, to obtain a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, a defendant must demonstrate that (1) the evidence was not known by the trial court, the party, or counsel at the time of trial, and it must appear that the defendant or defense counsel could not have known of it by the use of diligence; and (2) the newly discovered evidence is of such a nature that it would probably produce an acquittal on retrial. See Jones II, 709 So.2d at 521. Hitchcock argues that Bass may have erroneously matched the recovered hairs to Hitchcock and failed to find a match with Richard. First, Hitchcock offers no evidence that Bass actually mishandled the hairs in his case. Second, the hairs have been destroyed and cannot be retested. As a result, Hitchcock's hope of finding a match with Richard is merely speculative. Third, excluding Bass's testimony regarding the match with Hitchcock and non-match with Richard would not likely produce an acquittal. Hitchcock, Richard, and the victim all lived in the same household, and Hitchcock admitted to having sex with the victim. As a result, Bass's testimony that Hitchcock's hairs were found on the victim's body was just as consistent with Hitchcock's defense as it was with the State's case. The hair analysis evidence was of little probative value and cannot reasonably be seen as a definitive feature of the State's case. We also agree with the circuit court's denial of Hitchcock's Brady claim. In order to establish a Brady violation, Hitchcock must show the following: (1) the evidence at issue was exculpatory or impeaching; (2) the evidence was suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and (3) the suppression caused prejudice that undermined confidence in the verdict. Wright v. State, 857 So.2d 861, 869-70 (Fla.2003). The circuit court found that the State did not suppress evidence of Bass's poor work habits with respect to the 1977 guilt-phase trial because the negative review did not occur until 1978. We agree that the State could not suppress a personnel evaluation that did not yet exist at the time of trial. Also, quoting Preston v. State, 528 So.2d 896 (Fla.1988), the circuit court explained that the State's responsibility under Brady does not extend to examining in depth the personnel files of proposed expert witnesses and divulging possible adverse comments to the defense. In respect to the prejudice prong of this Brady claim, evidence of Bass's poor job performance would not be exculpatory because Hitchcock admitted to having sex with the victim, which explains the hair matches much more effectively than would evidence regarding the hair analyst's habits. Additionally, we agree that Hitchcock has failed to demonstrate prejudice because he did not present any evidence indicating that Bass mishandled the evidence in his case. See Grim v. State, 971 So.2d 85, 93 (Fla. 2007) (finding no prejudice from State's failure to disclose documents questioning medical examiner's qualifications where defense failed to present any evidence challenging validity of examiner's autopsy in that case). Hitchcock's Giglio claim is similarly without merit. In order to establish a Giglio violation, Hitchcock must show the following: (1) the testimony was false; (2) the prosecutor knew that the testimony was false; and (3) the testimony was material. Craig v. State, 685 So.2d 1224, 1226 (Fla.1996). Hitchcock presented no evidence that Bass's testimony in his case was actually false. Hitchcock merely speculates that her analysis came to the incorrect conclusions due to her subsequent poor performance evaluation. Hitchcock also did not offer any evidence indicating that the State knew about Bass's poor work techniques at the time of Hitchcock's trial, much less that the State knew her testimony to be false. Finally, we also agree with the circuit court's conclusion that Hitchcock's counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to Bass's testimony during the 1977 guilt phase. There is no basis for finding counsel ineffective in the instant case, where the unfavorable report was not written until the year after the trial.