Opinion ID: 166962
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of Defendant’s Expert Witness

Text: Prior to trial, Mr. Hebah gave notice he would offer the testimony of a clinical and forensic psychologist, Dr. William E. Flynn, who would testify on -25- Mr. Hebah’s proneness to give false confessions based on his overly compliant nature and tendency to acquiesce to the wishes of others, including Agent Dawson, who received Mr. Hebah's confession. After the government objected, the district court held a lengthy Daubert-type hearing in chambers where Dr. Flynn explained what his court testimony would entail. In part, the following was established: (1) Dr. Flynn’s resume' failed to establish he possessed any expertise in the area of false confessions, and specifically omitted any reference to his training, research, or published articles on the topic; (2) he “guessed” he attended a one-day workshop three or four years earlier on the admission of tests relating to false confessions; (3) he administered false confession tests only five to ten times before; (4) he relied on Mr. Hebah’s relatives to verify his compliance results; (5) he tested Mr. Hebah and his relatives by sending them tests or questionnaires in advance and then interviewing them over the telephone, and admitted the reliability of their answers might depend on the reliability of those in the room with them or whoever handled or helped with the tests; (6) Mr. Hebah’s and his relatives’ answers could be selfserving or based on lies, and the test used could not identify whether they were malingering; (7) he incorrectly switched or confused the error rate for two tests and was unable to satisfactorily establish an error rate for the tests he -26- administered; (8) he did not know if Mr. Hebah was compliant or a false confessor, although he previously provided a written evaluation stating he was both compliant and a false confessor; (9) he himself did not give Mr. Hebah the Kaufman Brief Test he used to test his intelligence; (10) the false confession studies he relied on were British and Icelandic based; and (11) confession testing may be too meager to qualify as scientific knowledge under the Daubert standard. When questioning Dr. Flynn, the government relied on various articles suggesting the false confession defense, developed in Great Britain and applied by Dr. Flynn, was unused in American courts based on the fact British law does not have a Miranda equivalent, including the right to remain silent, or an exclusionary rule to suppress evidence. While Dr. Flynn admitted he did not consider these differences in his evaluation or conclusions, he testified that he guessed half of the states in the country accept this type of testimony. The district court judge took exception with this remark, pointing out he and his clerk researched the issue for three days and found very few cases on the subject. After articulating its findings of fact and reasons for rejecting admission of Dr. Flynn’s testimony, the district court sustained the government’s objection. On appeal, Mr. Hebah claims his confession was the strongest evidence -27- implicating him in the sexual abuse for which he was convicted, and therefore the district court “completely gutted” and prejudiced his defense by refusing to allow his expert witness to testify on the subject of false confessions. In rather summary fashion, Mr. Hebah focuses on the relevance of Dr. Flynn’s testimony, rather than any discussion on its reliability. He contends Dr. Flynn’s tests were relevant because they revealed he possessed low intelligence and experienced abnormal susceptibility to accepting the suggestions of others and complying with their requests, including the influence of Agent Dawson, who improperly persuaded him to confess to sexually abusing the teenage girl. Finally, Mr. Hebah contends the district court failed to follow the specific factors outlined in Daubert when it excluded his expert’s testimony. We begin by considering the rules and law applicable to the admission of expert witness testimony, together with our standard of review for exclusion of such evidence. The applicable rule on expert testimony, Federal Rule of Evidence 702, states: If 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, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case. -28- In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579, 589-91 (1993), the Supreme Court explained Federal Rule of Evidence 702 requires the district court to ensure all scientific testimony or evidence admitted at trial is (1) relevant, and (2) reliable. See also Norris v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 397 F.3d 878, 884 (10th Cir. 2005). Reliability is determined by examining “whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid,” and relevance is based on “whether reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue,” McKenzie v. Benton, 388 F.3d 1342, 1351 (10th Cir 2004) (quotation marks and citations omitted), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 2294 (2005), or the “task at hand,” Norris, 397 F.3d at 884. The Daubert Court set out several factors which may be considered by a district court, including whether: (1) the technique can and has been tested; (2) the opinion has been subjected to peer review; (3) there is a known or potential error rate associated with the methodology used and the standards controlling the technique’s operation; (4) standards controlling the technique’s operation exist and are maintained; and (5) the theory has been accepted in the scientific community. Norris, 397 F.3d at 884; United States v. Call, 129 F.3d 1402, 1404 (10th Cir. 1997). Since its decision in Daubert, the Supreme Court has emphasized that no particular formula should be applied in determining if expert -29- testimony is reliable and relevant, and that the Daubert list is neither definitive nor exhaustive. See Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 141-42 (1999); Norris, 397 F.3d at 884. In addition, this court has long held the “voluntariness” or “credibility” of a confession “‘is generally not an appropriate subject for expert testimony,’” in part, because it “encroaches upon the jury’s vital and exclusive function to make credibility determinations.” United States v. Adams, 271 F.3d 1236, 1245 (10th Cir. 2001) (citations omitted). With respect to our standard of review, we review de novo whether the district court properly performed its “gatekeeper” role under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert. Norris, 397 F.3d at 883. We review for an abuse of discretion whether the district court properly excluded expert testimony in performing that function. Id. “We will not disturb the district court’s ruling unless it is arbitrary, capricious, whimsical or manifestly unreasonable or when we are convinced that the district court made a clear error of judgment or exceeded the bounds of permissible choice in the circumstances.” Id. (quotation marks, alteration, and citation omitted). In this case, the district court clearly considered Rule 702, the Daubert factors, and other issues related to Dr. Flynn’s testimony, and made extensive -30- findings that: (1) Dr. Flynn lacked training in the area on which he planned to testify, and a one-day seminar did not otherwise qualify him to testify; (2) his procedures had not been shown to be reliable; (3) his use of Mr. Hebah’s relatives to validate the test results was an unreliable way of testing for malingering; (4) he improperly applied a “shortcut” process rather than used standard psychological tests such as the MMPI; (5) he failed to use real or standard IQ tests, performed under strict testing conditions, and instead used the Kaufman Brief Test; (6) his evaluation process is one not generally accepted in our judicial system, most likely because it was developed in Great Britain, which has a different criminal justice system; (7) he failed to established to the court’s satisfaction any error rate in the process used; and (8) his testimony was irrelevant, given it would not materially assist the jury and could infringe on the jury’s credibility determinations of Mr. Hebah and Agent Dawson. We have considered the district court’s factual determinations, which are clearly supported by the record, and after applying the appropriate standard of review on appeal we conclude it did not abuse its discretion or otherwise err in disallowing the admission of the expert’s testimony based on its finding it was unreliable. Because we agree Dr. Flynn’s testimony failed the Daubert reliability requirement, we need not address the issue of whether it was relevant. See -31- Norris, 397 F.3d at 884. Even if the district court erred in disallowing such testimony, the district court’s failure to admit Dr. Flynn’s testimony is, at worst, harmless. 5 In this case, several individuals attended the party, witnessed Mr. Hebah’s actions with respect to the teenager, and gave consistent accounts of what happened. Their trial testimony, together with both Agent Dawson’s and Mr. Hebah’s trial testimony that he told Agent Dawson he put his finger and penis in the girl’s vagina, sufficiently corroborated Mr. Hebah’s confession for the purpose of supporting his conviction for sexual abuse. In convicting him, it is evident the jury assessed the credibility of all the witnesses, including Mr. Hebah, and rejected his contention his confession did not contain a true account of his statements to Agent Dawson. As a consequence, we believe the omission of Dr. Flynn’s testimony did not affect Mr. Hebah’s substantial rights; in other words, its omission did not substantially influence the outcome or leave us in grave doubt as to whether it had such an effect. See Turner, 285 F.3d at 914. 5 “[A]n error is harmless unless a substantial right of a party is affected,” and therefore, “an error affecting a substantial right of a party is an error which had a substantial influence on the outcome or which leaves one in grave doubt as to whether it had such effect.” See United States v. Turner, 285 F.3d 909, 914 (10th Cir. 2002) (quotation marks and citations omitted). -32-