Opinion ID: 2265552
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Admission of the Detective's Opinion as to Alleged Victim's Veracity

Text: Detective Guimond of the South Portland Police Department, while testifying at the 1982 parole revocation hearing, related the rape victim's statement made to him soon after the alleged rape, and stated over objection his opinion that she was telling the truth. Ingerson convinced the Superior Court that the Parole Board erred in admitting that opinion testimony and that, since it might have swayed the Board's decision, the case should be remanded for a new hearing. We, however, are not persuaded that the Parole Board erred. The Court in Morrissey, 408 U.S. at 489, 92 S.Ct. at 2604, stated that the process should be flexible enough to consider evidence including letters, affidavits, and other material that would not be admissible in an adversary criminal trial. In Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 786-87, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 1761-62, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973), the Court once again noted the informal nature of [revocation] proceedings and the absence of technical rules of procedure or evidence therein. As we stated above, since the Maine Rules of Evidence do not apply in a parole revocation proceeding, a certain amount of hearsay is acceptable there. The admissibility of opinion evidence in a parole revocation proceeding is likewise not governed by the usual rules of evidence applicable in a criminal trial. Our analysis begins, rather, with the proposition that the admission of evidence in a parole revocation proceeding must be in accord with the basic demands of due process. The administrative hearing to determine whether a violation of parole has occurred is informal and seeks in a loosely structured way to gather all evidence relevant to that question. The only restrictions imposed on the truth-seeking function are those required by due process, of which the touchstone is fundamental fairness. Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. at 790, 93 S.Ct. at 1763. In Ingerson I, 448 A.2d at 880, we held that admission of the results of a polygraph examination at parolee's first revocation hearing was fundamentally unfair and so violated the restrictions imposed by due process. The factors that influenced our decision on that appeal were that no foundation was laid regarding the scientific reliability of the test or the manner in which it was conducted; that the device may tend to usurp the function of the trier of fact in evaluating the credibility of a witness; and that there was no opportunity for cross-examination of the polygraph examiner, whose opinion it was that the victim was telling the truth. The present situation also involves an opinion, in this case that of the police officer, that the victim told a truthful story. The parallel to Ingerson I ends there, however. The basis of Detective Guimond's personal opinion, namely, his interview of the victim, was explored at the 1982 hearing in some depth on both direct and cross-examination. Detective Guimond himself was available on the stand to be cross-examined by Ingerson's counsel regarding his opinion of the victim's veracity. There was no problem that Guimond's testimony at the second hearing might overawe the Parole Board, in the way that the aura of scientific infallibility associated with polygraph tests might have unduly swayed the Board at the first hearing. The Parole Board has a long experience of hearing the testimony of police officers, and was unlikely to accord Detective Guimond's opinion any undue weight based on his position. The difficulties that led us in Ingerson I to strike down the admission of the polygraph evidence at the first hearing are thus not before us on the present appeal. Furthermore, Detective Guimond's opinion is the type of evidence that a Parole Board might properly consider in reaching its conclusion. 5 M.R.S.A. § 9057(2) (1979), governing the evidence admissible in administrative proceedings, provides that [e]vidence shall be admitted if it is the kind of evidence upon which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. The opinion of a police detective falls into that category of evidence. While it will not have conclusive probative value, still it is one factor that reasonably could be relied upon in the determination of questions of a serious nature. In sum, no fundamental unfairness resulted to Ingerson from the Parole Board's admission of Detective Guimond's opinion of the victim's truthfulness. Another, perhaps more illuminating, method of analyzing the admissibility of the detective's opinion is to examine the question by an approach analogous to that used in determining whether an error, if there be one, is harmless. It needs no elaborate analysis to observe that if an error is harmless, then it cannot affect a parolee unfairly. Thus, even if we were to assume for the moment that admission of the detective's opinion was error, there would be no violation of due process if it was in any event harmless error. The test for harmless error in a criminal prosecution is stated in State v. True, 438 A.2d 460, 467 (Me.1981), to be whether the appellate court believes it highly probable that the error did not affect the judgment. We do not today decide whether as strict a standard should apply to administrative adjudications. Suffice it for present purposes to say that no more stringent standard for harmless error is to be applied upon review of parole revocation proceedings than is provided for in True. In the present case, we have no doubt that the Parole Board would have reached the same result absent Detective Guimond's opinion evidence. In the first place, the members of the Parole Board are likely to have relied only minimally, if at all, on that opinion: they heard the victim herself testify regarding the alleged rape, and could judge her credibility for themselves. In those circumstances, the detective's opinion evidence would be useful mainly to indicate to the Parole Board members that the victim was as believable immediately following the incident as she was at the hearing some two years later. While that information would be useful to the Board members, it could hardly be critical to their decision. Furthermore, the record makes clear that the Parole Board would have concluded, even absent his explicit opinion testimony, that Detective Guimond believed the victim's story. Following his interview with the victim, the detective arranged to have her take a polygraph test, sought out and interviewed individuals she claimed had seen Ingerson force her into the car on the day of the alleged rape, and took the case to the district attorney for prosecution. That vigorous pursuit of the case shows that the detective thought that the victim was telling the truth. Ingerson has argued that Detective Guimond would not have required the victim to take a polygraph test had he believed her story initially. But that contention is answered by the fact of record that it is standard policy in such cases to administer the test. Use of the polygraph was merely a part of Detective Guimond's continued investigation of the case. We conclude that it was highly probable that the detective's statement of his opinion had no effect on the Board's final decision. Thus, admission of that opinion evidence was in any event harmless, and not in violation of due process. As relevant evidence not interfering with Ingerson's due process rights, it was properly admitted at the parole revocation hearing. The entry is: Judgment vacated; remanded for entry of judgment denying post-conviction relief. All concurring.