Opinion ID: 3064974
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Expert Testimony at Admissibility

Text: Hearing. [19] We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion and Appellants were not prejudiced by the district court’s denial of Appellants’ request to have an expert present at the hearing regarding the admissibility of the wiretap recordings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(e)(1), the district court must authorize employment of an expert witness for an indigent defendant if it finds that an expert is necessary. Whether funds should be expended for an expert depends on “the context of the underlying claim for which [one] asserts he ought to have been given expert help.” United States v. RodriquezLara, 421 F.3d 932, 940 (9th Cir. 2005). Thus, Appellants must show by clear and convincing evidence that “(1) a reasonably competent counsel would have required the assistance of the requested expert for a paying client, and (2) he was prejudiced by the lack of expert assistance.” Depew, 210 F.3d at 1065 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). In this case, the record confirms that the district court authorized funds to retain an expert and Reed had the benefit UNITED STATES v. REED 10193 of the expert’s assistance. Reed argues that the district court erred in denying funds to allow the expert to travel to and be present at a hearing regarding the admissibility of the wiretap recordings. The district court reasoned that the hearing was to lay the foundation for the wiretap calls by the percipient witness, and no expert testimony would be necessary. Consequently, the expert was not present and did not testify at the admissibility hearing. We conclude that the district court did not err in refusing to allow the expert to be present at the admissibility hearing. Given the defense theory (that the wiretap recordings included recordings from illegal wiretaps), the testimony was relevant to the issue of suppression. The record shows that the district court heard the defense expert’s testimony at the suppression hearing. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to hear the same testimony at the admissibility hearing. To the extent that Reed contends that he required the assistance of the expert to prepare for cross-examination of the Government’s foundation witnesses, Reed cannot show prejudice. Given Reed’s theory in this case, a reasonable, competent counsel may have needed expert assistance to prepare for cross-examination. However, the record shows that Reed’s attorney actually consulted with the expert during a two-week recess to develop the cross-examination of the Government’s foundation witness. When the hearing was reconvened, Reed’s counsel informed the court that it had “spent many hours with the expert . . . developing a line of crossexamination.” Therefore, we conclude that Reed had the benefit of expert assistance in preparing for the hearing. Reed cannot show that he was prejudiced by not having his expert present at this hearing. First, as noted above, Reed consulted with his expert in preparing for cross-examination of the Government’s witness. But in any event, Reed’s counsel declined to cross-examine the Government’s witness at the 10194 UNITED STATES v. REED hearing. Given the record, Reed has failed to show any prejudice. B. Denial of Expert Testimony on Illegal Wiretaps at Trial. [20] The district court also did not abuse its discretion in precluding expert testimony at trial in support of Appellants’ theory that the Government used “illegal wiretaps.” Arguing that the expert testimony went to the credibility of the Government witnesses, Appellants sought to present the same evidence adduced at the hearings on the renewed motion to suppress: expert opinion that there were “anomalies” in the wiretap that could indicate that the Government was conducting illegal wiretaps. The district court ruled that the issue of the legality of the wiretap was a matter for the court and not the jury. We agree. It is well-settled that “the question of the competency of the evidence . . . by reason of the legality or otherwise of its seizure [is] a question of fact and law for the court and not for the jury.” Steele v. United States, 267 U.S. 505, 511 (1925) (citing Gila Valley, G. & N. Ry. Co. v. Hall, 232 U.S. 94, 103 (1914) (“Questions of the admissibility of evidence are for the determination of the court; and this is so whether its admission depend upon matter of law or upon matter of fact.”). The legality of a wiretap and the question of whether the Government had a warrant for a wiretap is not a question for the jury to consider, because it is not immediately relevant to the question of guilt. See Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 264 (1960) (noting requirement that motion to suppress “be made before trial . . . is designed to eliminate from the trial disputes over police conduct not immediately relevant to the question of guilt”), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 85 (1980). Rather, it is a question for the court in the context of a pretrial motion to suppress, Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b)(3)(C), wherein the court must determine the competence of evidence and whether such evidence, if illeUNITED STATES v. REED 10195 gally obtained, must be suppressed. See also 23A C.J.S. Crim. L. § 1748 (“Where the admissibility of the evidence depends on the legality of its seizure or other manner of procurement, the question whether it was legally obtained is ordinarily for the court.”). Appellants’ sole purpose in seeking to introduce the expert testimony at trial was to reargue the issue of illegal wiretaps, which the district court had previously addressed in the pretrial motion to suppress. The district court considered whether the expert testimony might be introduced for other purposes at trial, such as attacking the foundation and authenticity of the wiretap recordings. Yet, Appellants did not challenge the content of the wiretap recordings, and they do not now contend that the content of the recordings has been altered. Rather, the record confirms that the sole purpose of the proffered expert testimony was to show that the Government obtained evidence illegally. The legality of the wiretap was a question exclusively for the district court to answer. Accordingly, the court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to relitigate the issue by presenting it to the jury.