Opinion ID: 2935898
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: admission of testimony elicited on cross-

Text: EXAMINATION OF THE GOVERNMENT’S EXPERT WITNESS During trial, and in response to a question posed by Bilus’s attorney on cross-examination, Detective Madsen testified that Bilus’s computer contained evidence indicating he had engaged in online chats about viewing child pornography. Bilus’s attorney moved to strike the testimony pursuant to Federal 22 Case: 14-12269 Date Filed: 09/15/2015 Page: 23 of 50 Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, because it had not been disclosed prior to trial. 21 The motion was denied because Madsen’s testimony was elicited on crossexamination, and not during the government’s case-in-chief. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(G) (“At the defendant’s request, the government must give to the defendant a written summary of any testimony that the government intends to use under Rules 702, 703, or 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence during its case-inchief at trial.”) (emphasis supplied). Bilus also was not entitled to notice of Madsen’s testimony or report under Rule 16(a)(1)(F),22 because “forensic 21 During the second day of trial, Detective Madsen, who was on the stand as the government’s expert witness, was asked by Bilus’s attorney whether there was a known source for any of the images found on Bilus’s computer. The attorney apparently expected the answer to be “no,” but Madsen testified that he had recently found a “lead” on the potential sources of the images because of “communication logs that were more recently found.” Bilus’s attorney objected, because the communication logs were not addressed in Madsen’s expert report, and had not otherwise been disclosed to the defense. Madsen testified that, during his preparation for trial, he had located on the hard drive of Bilus’s computer “a lot of chat files that [he] previously had either not found or due to the amount, overlooked.” ECF 154, at 38 (alteration supplied). Based upon his review of those recently discovered files, Madsen testified that there was evidence that Bilus had engaged in a chat about viewing child pornography. Madsen also produced a six-page supplemental expert report addressing that material, but the prosecution acknowledged never having disclosed the supplemental report to the defense prior to trial. The prosecution did, however, provide Bilus with the opportunity to have Bilus’s laptop examined by a forensic expert. Bilus took advantage of that opportunity, but his expert’s examination did not reveal the files addressed in Madsen’s supplemental report. See id. at 38-68. 22 The relevant portion of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 provides that: Upon a defendant’s request, the government must permit a defendant to inspect and to copy or photograph the results or reports of any physical or mental examination and of any scientific test or experiment if: (i) the item is within the government’s possession, custody, or control; 23 Case: 14-12269 Date Filed: 09/15/2015 Page: 24 of 50 examination of a computer does not constitute a scientific test or experiment.” ECF No. 53, at 3. Instead, the report was “simply a report prepared for trial preparation,” and was exempted from disclosure pursuant to Rule 16(a)(2). Id.23 Finally, the trial court held that considerations of prejudice and fundamental fairness did not require disclosure of the report because the hard drive which contained the chat logs was made available to defendant’s experts on multiple occasions, and they had the opportunity to discover the chat logs. Defendant complains of prejudice because he would not have structured his defense in the manner that he did had he known of the evidence of chats discussing child pornography. Defendant had multiple chances to have his experts conduct forensic analyses of the computer. He does not have the right to have the government’s theory of the case handed to him. Any prejudice he suffered was from his failure to check the veracity of his assertion that there were no records of any chats. (ii) the attorney for the government knows — or through due diligence could know — that the item exists; and (iii) the item is material to preparing the defense or the government intends to use the item in its case-in-chief at trial. Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(F) (emphasis supplied). 23 The relevant portion of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 provides that: Except as permitted by Rule 16(a)(1)(A)-(D), (F), and (G), this rule does not authorize the discovery or inspection of reports, memoranda, or other internal government documents made by an attorney for the government or other government agent in connection with investigating or prosecuting the case. Nor does this rule authorize the discovery or inspection of statements made by prospective government witnesses except as provided in 18 U.S.C. § 3500. Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(2). 24 Case: 14-12269 Date Filed: 09/15/2015 Page: 25 of 50 ECF No. 53, at 5. Bilus now asserts that the denial of his motion to strike was an abuse of the trial court’s discretion. See Dodds, 347 F.3d at 897 (holding that the district court’s evidentiary rulings are reviewed for an abuse of discretion). That argument is not persuasive, and the district court’s denial of the motion to strike will be affirmed for the reasons stated by that court.