Opinion ID: 760895
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court Exercised Discretion in Excluding Dr.

Text: Wells' Testimony 20 When the district court's analysis satisfies the requirements of Daubert, we affirm its decision to preclude expert scientific evidence unless the decision constitutes an abuse of the court's discretion. See General Elec. Co., 118 S.Ct. at 517, 118 S.Ct. 512; Bradley, 42 F.3d at 436-37; Cella v. United States, 998 F.2d 418, 422-23 (7th Cir.1993). We find no such abuse in this case. The district court found that Dr. Wells' testimony would not be helpful to the jury in assessing the reliability of the eyewitness identifications and, therefore, excluded Dr. Wells' testimony because it would not assist the trier of fact as Rule 702 requires. 21 Hall contends that the district court abused it discretion in excluding Dr. Wells' testimony regarding the eyewitness identifications. First, Hall argues that the district court did not exercise discretion because the court was led by the prosecutor to believe that it had no discretion under controlling Seventh Circuit caselaw to allow the defense expert to testify. Hall points to the following statement by the district court as illustrative of the court's belief that it lacked discretion: 22 [I]t appears to me that it's not a question of whether or not there is a valid scientific basis for Dr. Wells' testimony but simply whether or not the Seventh Circuit believes that this type of testimony will aid the jury. And it seems to me all the Seventh Circuit case law says it will not, and for that reason the Court will not receive the testimony of Dr. Wells. 23 Second, Hall argues that we should reconsider our position that this type of testimony is inappropriate in light of Daubert and recent decisions by other circuits which have admitted such testimony in limited circumstances. In essence, Hall contends that this Court's line of cases amount to a per se ban of expert testimony pertaining to the reliability of eyewitness identifications and this ban offends the principles articulated in Daubert. We conclude, however, that the district court did exercise discretion in excluding Dr. Wells' testimony and we decline to reassess our position regarding the admissibility of this type of evidence.
24 This Court has a long line of cases which reflect our disfavor of expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identification. See, e.g., United States v. Daniels, 64 F.3d 311 (7th Cir.1995); United States v. Larkin, 978 F.2d 964 (7th Cir.1992); United States v. Curry, 977 F.2d 1042 (7th Cir.1992); United States v. Hudson, 884 F.2d 1016 (7th Cir.1989). We previously considered the issue in United States v. Hudson. In Hudson, the defendant offered expert testimony to show: (1) the effect of stress on eyewitness identification; (2) the problems associated with cross-racial identifications; (3) an overview of the memory process; and (4) the impact of a short viewing period upon the accuracy of an identification. 884 F.2d at 1023. In affirming the district court's decision to exclude the proffered expert testimony, we concluded that the district court need not determine whether expert testimony on eyewitness identification is sufficiently reliable to go to the jury because it is properly excludable in any event under Rule 702 because it will not assist the trier of fact. Id. at 1024. In other words, [s]uch expert testimony will not aid the jury because it addresses an issue of which the jury is already generally is aware, and it will not contribute to their understanding of the particular dispute. Id. Therefore, we held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence as unhelpful to the jury. Id. 25 In United States v. Curry, we once again affirmed a district court's decision to exclude expert testimony on the issue of eyewitness identifications under Rule 702. 977 F.2d at 1051-52. Like Hall, the defendant in Curry sought to offer expert testimony on a number of factors relating to the accuracy of eyewitness identifications including: (1) witnesses often overestimate the duration of their observation of an individual; (2) a witness' confidence in his identification bears little or no relationship to the accuracy of that identification; (3) memory fades at a geometric rather than arithmetic rate; (4) post-event phenomena may affect original memory, and memory is easily distorted by leading questions or other manipulations; and (5) prior photographic identifications increase the likelihood that later in-person identifications will be erroneous. Id. at 1051. While we recognized that expert testimony generally is admissible under Rule 702 if it assists the trier of fact to understand the evidence, we reasoned that a district judge has broad discretion to exclude relevant evidence that is confusing or redundant under Rule 403. Id. at 1051-52. In fact, we noted that our Rule 702 analysis incorporates a consideration of the Rule 403 dangers--particularly the danger of unfair prejudice. Id. at 1051. That is, Rule 702 compels a district court to consider whether the expert testimony would be misleading or confusing in the context of the trial. Id. While recognizing that expert testimony on eyewitness identification may not be totally unhelpful because a jury may not understand all the intricacies of perception, retention, and recall, we nevertheless concluded that the district court's preclusion of the such evidence was a proper exercise of discretion whether under Rule 702 or 403. Id. at 1051-52. Buttressing our decision in Curry was the fact that the eyewitness testimony was not the only evidence against the defendants and that the record revealed vigorous cross-examination by the defendant regarding the circumstances surrounding the identifications. Id. at 1052. In other words, the jury was alerted to the problems associated with eyewitness identification, including many of the factors that could affect perception, retention, and recall, despite the absence of expert testimony on the subject. 26 In later cases, we reaffirmed the principle that expert testimony relating to eyewitness identification is strongly disfavored. In United States v. Larkin, the district court denied a defendant's request to appoint an expert witness to testify about the undependability of eyewitness identification under stressful circumstances. 978 F.2d at 971. In affirming the district court's ruling, we explained, expert testimony regarding the potential hazards of eyewitness identification--regardless of its reliability--will not aid the jury because it addresses an issue of which the jury already generally is aware, and it will not contribute to their understanding of the particular factual issues posed. Id. (citation and internal quotations omitted). Because the hazards of eyewitness identification are well within the ken of most lay jurors and counsel was granted ample opportunity at trial to discuss those hazards and cast doubt upon the witnesses' eyewitness identification of his client, we concluded that the district court's decision not to appoint the expert witness requested was proper. Id. 27 Finally, in our most recent pronouncement on this issue, we affirmed a district court's denial of a defendant's request for the appointment of an expert to testify regarding the reliability of eyewitness identifications. Daniels, 64 F.3d at 315. The defendant in Daniels argued that the expert was necessary to prepare his defense. Relying on the principles articulated in Larkin and Hudson that expert testimony regarding the potential hazards of eyewitness identifications will not assist the jury under Rule 702, we held that the district court properly exercised its discretion in denying Daniels' motion. Id. 28 In this case, the district court, relying on Hudson, Larkin, and Daniels, concluded that Dr. Wells' testimony regarding the reliability of the eyewitness identifications would not assist the jury and, therefore, excluded the testimony under Rule 702. Despite Hall's assertion to the contrary, we believe the district court recognized that it had the discretion to admit this testimony--and that the court exercised sound discretion by following and applying the principles articulated by this Court in reaching its decision to exclude Dr. Wells' testimony. While the government did argue to the district court at the hearing that it believed the court lacked discretion to admit the expert's testimony, 5 we believe that the record shows that the district court recognized that it was within the court's discretion to admit Dr. Wells' testimony. First, contrary to Hall's assertion, the district court did not automatically exclude Dr. Wells' testimony--rather it excluded the testimony only after having considered whether Dr. Wells' testimony would assist the trier of fact in this case. It would seem counter-intuitive for the district court to engage in an analysis of whether an expert's testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identification would assist the trier of fact if it is predetermined that all expert testimony on that topic is automatically excluded as unhelpful. Second, the record provides no indication that the district court believed there was an absolute bar to the admission of such evidence. To the contrary, the district court stated that [t]here seems to be this authority in the Seventh Circuit that it somewhat generally disapproves of expert witness testimony. See also Curry, 977 F.2d at 1052 ([I]t is likely that it was within the discretion of the trial court to allow the eyewitnesses expert testimony here, [but] we decline to hold that the court was required to do so.). 29 In sum, the record reveals that the district court considered the reliability and potential helpfulness of Dr. Wells' testimony, balanced the proffered testimony against cases in which we have expressed a strong disfavor towards the admission of such evidence, and concluded that Dr. Wells' testimony would not assist the trier of fact under Rule 702. For these reasons, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in excluding Dr. Wells' testimony.
30 Hall also contends that we should reassess our position regarding the admissibility of this type of evidence in light of Daubert and in light of recent developments in other circuits that now permit the admission of such testimony in limited circumstances. Implicitly, Hall argues that Daubert lowered the standard for admissibility of expert testimony dealing with eyewitness identification and, therefore, this Circuit's pre-Daubert cases excluding such testimony should no longer be followed. We conclude, however, that Daubert does not undermine our prior analysis of the admissibility of expert scientific testimony under Rule 702. Further, we do not believe our precedent conflicts with those decisions of other circuits which Hall contends are more open to the admission of this type of evidence. Therefore, we reject Hall's arguments. 31
32 As we mentioned previously, in Daubert, the Supreme Court established the approach a district court must take in determining the admissibility of expert scientific testimony under Rule 702. In so doing, the Supreme Court rejected the rigid test set forth in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923), which required expert scientific testimony to be generally accepted as reliable in the relevant scientific community in order to be admissible, see Daubert, 509 U.S. at 584-87, 113 S.Ct. 2786, and adopted the more liberal standard embodied by Rule 702 that the expert need only testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue. Id. at 592, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Because this Court has consistently affirmed district court decisions rejecting expert testimony pertaining to the reliability of eyewitness identifications on the basis that it will not assist the trier of fact under Rule 702, rather than because such testimony was unreliable under the Frye test, we conclude that Daubert leaves intact our pre-Daubert caselaw interpreting this issue. See generally United States v. Smith, 122 F.3d 1355, 1359 (11th Cir.) (Thevis [a pre-Daubert decision] held that expert testimony regarding eyewitness reliability does not assist the jury, and we conclude that that holding is in harmony with Daubert. Therefore, it is as true after Daubert as it was before that a district court does not abuse it[s] discretion in excluding such testimony.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 614, 139 L.Ed.2d 500 (1997). 33
34 In addition, Hall argues that recent decisions by other circuit courts, which have admitted expert testimony on this topic in narrow circumstances, suggest it is time for us to revisit our position that the admission of such testimony is strongly disfavored. See, e.g., United States v. Brien, 59 F.3d 274, 277 (1st Cir.1995) (declining to adopt a blanket rule that qualified expert testimony on eyewitness identification must either be routinely admitted or excluded); United States v. Amador-Galvan, 9 F.3d 1414, 1417-18 (9th Cir.1993) (declining to follow per se rule excluding expert testimony regarding the credibility of eyewitness identification). We need not do so because a careful examination shows no inconsistency between our decisions and those relied upon by Hall. As we have previously stated, the district court has discretion under Rule 702 to admit or exclude expert testimony on witness identification. See Hudson, 884 F.2d at 1023-24; see also Curry, 977 F.2d at 1051-52 (noting that the district court has the discretion to admit expert testimony on eyewitness identifications). Likewise, the unifying principle of those cases cited by Hall is that expert testimony on eyewitness identification comes within the scope of Rule 702 and, thus, should not be excluded automatically. See, e.g., Brien, 59 F.3d at 277 (concluding that its within the broad discretion of the trial court to admit or exclude expert testimony on eyewitness identification); United States v. Rincon, 28 F.3d 921, 923 (9th Cir.1994) (same). Thus, we believe that our position is consistent with these cases because most courts allowing such expert eyewitness testimony recognize that the determination of admissibility rests within the sound discretion of the district court.