Opinion ID: 853312
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Caterpillar Brand Boots

Text: At trial, West objected to the expert testimony of witness David Brundage, who conducted a comparison of the shoeprints found at the crime scene with Caterpillar boots. Brundage is employed as a firearms and toolmark examiner by the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency (Crime Lab). West argues that expert testimony as to the shoeprint is inappropriate. The Indiana Rules of Evidence provide: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or 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. Ind. Evidence Rule 702(a). Expert scientific testimony is admissible only if the court is satisfied that the scientific principles upon which the expert testimony rests are reliable. Evid. R. 702(b). The decision of the trial court as to reliability under Indiana Rule of Evidence 702(b) will be reviewed for an abuse of discretion. McGrew v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1289, 1292 (Ind.1997). In McGrew, the defendant made an analogous claim, challenging the reliability of hair comparison analysis under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). This Court concluded that the trial court had not abused its discretion in allowing the admission of this evidence, pointing out that Indiana Rule of Evidence 702(b), unlike its federal counterpart, explicitly requires that the trial court be satisfied that the testimony be based upon reliable scientific principles. McGrew, 682 N.E.2d at 1290 (citing Steward v. State, 652 N.E.2d 490, 498-99 (Ind. 1995)). Reliability may be established by judicial notice or by the proponent of the scientific testimony providing sufficient foundation to convince the trial court that the scientific principles are reliable. Id. (citing Steward v. State, 652 N.E.2d 490, 498-99 (Ind.1995)). This Court further noted that, although Daubert is instructive, federal case law is not binding on the determination of state evidentiary law on this issue. Id. The trial court conducted a hearing on West's motion in limine seeking to exclude this testimony. Brundage described his duties at the Crime Lab, the process of lifting and comparing prints, and testified that footwear examination is an area of study generally accepted within the scientific community. Brundage testified that he had participated in an international symposium on the recovery of shoeprints, enhancement techniques, and comparison of footwear evidence. Brundage then went on to describe the procedure he had employed in comparing the shoeprint found at the crime scene with Caterpillar brand boots. The trial court denied West's motion in limine, concluding that Brundage was an expert in foot and bootwear impressions and that the State had satisfied Rule 702. At trial, West again objected, and the trial court again took testimony before ruling that Rule 702 had been satisfied by the State. As in Vasquez v. State, 741 N.E.2d 1214, 1216 (Ind.2001) (citing Jervis v. State, 679 N.E.2d 875, 881 (Ind.1997)), this testimony is on the margins of testimony governed by Rule of Evidence 702(b) as expert scientific testimony. To a great extent, it is simply a matter of observations of persons with specialized knowledge. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Brundage's testimony with regard to the footwear. West also appears to argue that, because the shoeprint was determined to be a size nine and one half and his foot was found by a shoe salesman to be a ten-C, Brundage's testimony should not have been admitted. We believe that this issue bears on the weight to be given Brundage's testimony and not its admissibility. [4] See Williams v. State, 714 N.E.2d 644, 650 n. 4 (Ind.1999).