Opinion ID: 1372493
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Conduct a Daubert Analysis

Text: Ozuna claims that even if reopening the suppression hearing was proper, the district court erred by failing to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to considering the handwriting testimony. In Daubert, the Supreme Court held that it was the duty of the trial judge to examine expert evidence before trial to ensure that any and all scientific testimony or evidence admitted is not only relevant, but reliable. 509 U.S. at 589, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Thus, the district court serves a gatekeeping function to prevent expert testimony from carrying more weight with the jury than it deserves. Smith v. Ford Motor Co., 215 F.3d 713, 718 (7th Cir.2000); see also Daubert, 509 U.S. at 595, 113 S.Ct. 2786 (Expert evidence can be both powerful and quite misleading because of the difficulty in evaluating it. (quotations omitted)). Ozuna argues that Daubert applies with full force in suppression hearings, just as it does in trials, but he cites no law that effectively supports this contention. In fact, he concedes that the Rules of Evidence do not apply at pre-trial admissibility hearings. See United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 172-73, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974); United States v. Severson, 49 F.3d 268, 271 n. 2 (7th Cir.1995). Rule 104(a) makes this explicit. When ruling on admissibility, a district court judge is not bound by the rules of evidence except those with respect to privileges. Fed.R.Evid. 104(a). We see no persuasive reason to disregard the Rules of Evidence and impose a new requirement on district court judges to conduct a Daubert analysis during suppression hearings. The only case Ozuna cites in support of his argument is United States v. Posado, 57 F.3d 428 (5th Cir.1995). There, the district court had applied a per se rule against considering polygraph evidence at any time, including a suppression hearing. Id. at 432. The Fifth Circuit reversed, holding that a per se rule against admissibility was no longer viable after the Supreme Court's decision in Daubert. Id. at 433. But no language in Posado supports the argument that a district court must conduct a Daubert analysis at a pre-trial suppression hearing. The Fifth Circuit merely held that district courts could not be prohibited from considering that evidence or assessing its reliability. See id. In fact, the court noted that the Rules of Evidence are relaxed in a suppression hearing because [a] district court judge is much less likely than a lay jury to be intimidated by claims of scientific validity into assigning an inappropriate evidentiary value to [scientific] evidence. Id. at 435. In other words, the primary rationale behind Daubert is not applicable in a suppression hearing. The purpose of Daubert was to require courts to serve as gatekeepers so that unreliable expert testimony does not carry too much weight with the jury. Smith, 215 F.3d at 718. Judges, on the other hand, are less likely to be swayed by experts with insufficient qualifications. Posado, 57 F.3d at 435; see also In re Salem, 465 F.3d 767, 776-77 (7th Cir.2006) (upholding a bankruptcy court's finding that [t]he gatekeeping function that Daubert talks about is most pointedly at issue in a jury trial where a jury might be misled by an expert who doesn't have sufficient qualifications (quotations omitted)). For this reason, we have held that a court conducting a bench trial could make reliability determinations as the evidence was presented throughout the trial, rather than during a formal pre-trial Daubert hearing. In re Salem, 465 F.3d at 777. Nothing in the Rules of Evidence or our case law prohibits a judge from taking a similar course of action during a suppression hearing. Because the district court was not required to conduct a Daubert hearing, we review its consideration of the expert testimony for an abuse of discretion. Cf. Deputy v. Lehman Bros., Inc., 345 F.3d 494, 505 (7th Cir.2003) ([I]f the district court properly applied Daubert, we review the court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony only for an abuse of discretion. (quotations omitted)). The district court in this case carefully considered the handwriting testimony. It chose to credit some of the experts' analyses and discredit certain conclusions that it found unconvincing. It then used the expert testimony to guide its own analysis and determine whether Ozuna had signed the consent form. This was a reasonable use of the district court's discretion, and the decision to admit the seized cocaine was proper.