Opinion ID: 2310625
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of Porter's Request to Retain an Expert Witness

Text: Porter filed a pre-trial motion for the approval of funds to retain John E. Smialek, M.D., as a clinical forensic expert pursuant to D.C.Code § 11-2605(a) (1995 Repl.), for the purpose of testifying as a defense expert witness at trial. Porter proffered to the trial court that Dr. Smialek would be able to testify that normally semen would be found in the vaginal vault of a woman who was raped. The trial court denied Porter's motion without prejudice because it questioned whether Dr. Smialek, the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Maryland, was qualified to testify about the expectation of finding semen in the vaginal vault of a living female rape victim. The trial court's concern stemmed from the fact that Dr. Smialek's primary expertise, as the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Maryland, was the examination of homicide victims. The trial court felt that only a doctor familiar with treating living rape victims would be qualified to testify as an expert, and that Porter failed to demonstrate that Dr. Smialek was so qualified. Porter submitted a motion for reconsideration, where he highlighted certain portions of Dr. Smialek's curriculum vitae in an effort to convince the trial court that Dr. Smialek practiced as a clinical forensic expert, and thus was qualified to testify in the case because his experience was not restricted to the examination of deceased persons. The trial court denied Porter's second motion, also without prejudice, notwithstanding Dr. Smialek's extensive credentials and varied experience, and determined that without more or better information about Dr. Smialek's experience in this area, he was not qualified to render an expert opinion regarding the semen remains in a living rape victim. The trial court instructed Porter to find another doctor with the appropriate credentials, or to submit something more to the court with respect to Dr. Smialek to demonstrate that he would be qualified to testify on the subject. Porter did not submit any further information with respect to Dr. Smialek's qualifications after the trial court's request. On the day before trial, Porter renewed his request for funds to consult with Dr. Smialek, and the trial court denied his request because nothing more was submitted by Porter to demonstrate that Dr. Smialek would be qualified to testify as an expert on the specific subject matter. D.C.Code § 11-2605(a) [5] entitles a defendant to the services of an expert, if the accused is financially unable to obtain the services and the `services are necessary to an adequate defense.' Gaither v. United States, 391 A.2d 1364, 1367 (D.C. 1978) (citation omitted). The decision to authorize defense counsel to obtain an expert, however, is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court. Id. at 1369. Therefore, the trial court's determination that Dr. Smialek would not qualify as an expert witness, and its decision to deny the funds based on this reason, is not easily overturned. The question in this case is whether the trial court erred in denying the funds because it did not believe that Dr. Smialek qualified as an expert to testify about semen remains in a living rape victim. Porter argues that that Dr. Smialek's curriculum vitae clearly delineates his extensive research and expertise in the general area of clinical forensic medicine, and not only the examination of deceased persons. The government argues that the trial court exercised permissible discretion by denying Porter's request for funds for Dr. Smialek because Porter simply failed to provide the trial court with evidence of Dr. Smialek's qualifications on the specific subject matter of which he would be asked to testify. The government submits that if the trial court was skeptical as to whether Dr. Smialek was qualified to testify, then his services would not be considered necessary under D.C.Code § 11-2605, a finding required for the trial court to authorize the payment of funds. The government also asserts that the trial court permissibly exercised its discretion because it denied Porter's original motion without prejudice, allowing Porter the opportunity to address the trial court's concerns about Dr. Smialek's qualifications or time to procure the services of another doctor qualified to testify about the presence of semen in the vaginal vault of living rape victims. Finally, the government posits that any error by the trial court in denying Porter's request for funds was harmless. The government contends that even had the trial court authorized funds for Porter to retain Dr. Smialek to give expert testimony, the trial court would not have allowed Dr. Smialek to testify without further credentials; therefore, any error in not authorizing the funds was harmless. See Gaither, 391 A.2d at 1369 n. 8 (commenting that trial court's error in denying request for an expert may be harmless); Gonzalez v. United States, 697 A.2d 819, 826 (D.C. 1997) (the trial court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony will not be disturbed unless manifestly erroneous). In addition, the government argues that any error was harmless because Dr. Smialek's inexperience in examining living rape victims would have significantly undermined the impact of his testimony at trial, and the government's evidence in this case was very strong. In this case, Porter failed to proffer sufficient information to address the trial court's reasonable concern that Dr. Smialek was not qualified to offer expert testimony on the presence of semen in the vaginal vault of living rape victims. Dr. Smialek's curriculum vitae listed fourteen publications, abstracts, and lectureships dealing generally with clinical forensic medicine. Nothing in Dr. Smialek's curriculum vitae, however, confirmed his ability to testify regarding semen remains in living rape victims. One abstract and presentation listed on Dr. Smialek's curriculum vitae is entitled, Detection of Sperm and Quantitative Prostatic Acid Phosphates Determination in 43 Female Homicide Victims. However, this research focused on the detection of sperm in homicide rape victims, and was not enough to satisfy the trial court's demand that in order to qualify as an expert witness in this case, it had to be shown that Dr. Smialek was able to testify with regard to living rape victims. Therefore, on the record before us, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion by denying Porter's request for funds to consult with Dr. Smialek. Finally, we agree with the government that any error by the trial court in denying Porter funds to consult with Dr. Smialek was harmless. See Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). First, given the trial court's concern about Dr. Smialek's qualifications to testify, without further information, the trial court would have reserved the right to disallow his testimony at trial. See Gonzalez, 697 A.2d at 826. Most importantly, however, the evidence against Porter was powerful. Here, the victim, L.F. recounted the details of her rape by Porter to the jury. In addition, the scientific evidence presented by the government that the DNA found in the male fraction of the semen on the bed sheets and in L.F.'s underpants matched Porter's blood samples fully corroborated L.F.'s testimony.