Court Opinion

ID: 9785623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:14:20.379493+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:30.771401
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice,
dissenting, with whom HILL, Justice, joins.
I dissent from the resolution of this case according to the majority opinion. It treats the failure to furnish the curriculum vitae of an expert witness to the defense as error per se. I have some question as to whether it constituted error at all, but I am convinced that, conceding error for purposes of this debate, any error was harmless. The majority opinion, with respect to the claims of error by Stanley Seivewright, can be briefly summarized. First, it holds that the failure of the trial court to take any of the steps articulated in W.R.Cr.P. 26.2 was reversible error. Then it is noted that Seive-wright had received a letter stating Dr. Huber's conclusions. The claim of violation of the constitutional right to confrontation was not addressed, as well it should not be. The majority opinion then addresses the failure to hold a so-called Dawbert1 hearing, and rules that no abuse of discretion occurred with respect to the failure to hold such a hearing. Next, the majority refutes the argument that the orthodontist was not qualified to offer expert testimony. The net effect is that no error occurred in the admission of the testimony of the orthodontist into evidence, but reversible error occurred because the trial court never ordered the production of the report or the curriculum vitae prior to trial.
One would normally expect some explanation of how that failure was prejudicial, but prejudice is simply assumed, not explained. Before the orthodontist testified, defense counsel offered these objections:
Your Honor, I had filed a motion I believe back in late May, where I requested a Daubert hearing concerning the State's evidence of their expert witness, Dr. Huber. And I would request again that we have a hearing-a Daubert hearing-with respect to that type of testimony.
My understanding is that the State's evidence is going to be that the dentist can offer testimony concerning dental impressions of this piece of cheese that has been admitted into evidence.
I would challenge this type of testimony as being-as not being proven to have been scientifically reliable, and I think we *33need a hearing to clarify what exactly the testimony is.
I would further add, Your Honor, that when I filed this motion, I had requested that I be provided with the dentist's credentials, and I have talked to [the prosecutor], I believe, a couple of times and have asked him just before I approached the podium here today, and I asked if he had the dentist's credentials, and he does not.
So I have not seen what the dentist's credentials are and whether or not he's ever done this type of thing before or whether or not he's qualified to do it. And I feel those are issues that we need to get into before he is allowed to testify. And I would demand that the State provide those documents to me before the witness takes the stand and testifies in this courtroom.
Defense counsel then made no effort, nor was any request submitted, to conduct a voir dire of the orthodontist prior to his testimony being received. Defense counsel did sue-cessfully object to the admission into evidence of the report, which the orthodontist referred to throughout his testimony. When the conclusion of the orthodontist was offered, defense counsel renewed the objection previously stated, and objected to testimony relating to the cheese because it had not been admitted into evidence for failure to establish the chain of custody. The orthodontist then explained what he had done in order to compare Seivewright's dental characteristics with the block of cheese. On cross-examination, defense counsel questioned the orthodontist extensively about his education, special training and experience with respect to testifying. In the course of his testimony, the orthodontist testified that he never had accomplished the delivery of his curriculum vitae to the district attorney.
At the conclusion of the orthodontist's cross-examination and redirect examination, defense counsel renewed his objections, saying:
Your Honor, I would again like to renew my Motion to Strike the Testimony of Dr. Huber. I believe it is inadmissible for two reasons. One is that I believe my request for a Daubert hearing is now deemed appropriate. I believe the doctor testified to scientific types of information, which I believe had to be deemed appropriate prior to his testimony.
Also, the second reason I would move to strike is that his entire testimony was in violation of this Court's discovery order. First off, we did not receive any information whatsoever dealing with his credentials, and obviously that affects my ability to cross-examine and to effectively represent my client.
Furthermore, he testified that he took calculations and notes of his analysis. Well, we had absolutely no information on his analysis. All we have is one letter basically-or stating his conclusions.
And, Your Honor, to effectively represent my client, I obviously need his analysis and any other information pertaining to that. And I believe any expert testifying-if they are going to testify to any scientific knowledge or anything involving any type of scientific analysis or mathematical analysis-the defense is entitled to that information prior to coming to court for being able to cross-examine him, and also for being able to evaluate that and determine whether or not we need to have someone else evaluate it and determine if it's valid or not.
Your Honor, the State has had months and months and months to provide that information. They had never done so. The witness gets on the stand and says, "I just didn't provide my curriculum vitae to the district attorney after being asked to do so, because I didn't get around to it."
Your Honor, that is no reason for my client to suffer prejudice when he's looking at life in the penitentiary, because this doctor didn't get around to it. For those reasons, Your Honor, I move to strike.
(Emphasis added.) The nature of the prejudice suffered is not identified, beyond the claim that it is present, any more than it is identified in the majority opinion.
The foregoing tells me that Seivewright wanted neither the so-called report nor the curriculum vitae, but he wanted the opportunity to complain about not having them. Trial began on June 30, 1997 and it continued *34through July 3, 1997. The Motion for Dau-bert Hearing was filed on May 27, 1997, and it recites, among other things, as a reason for the motion:
1. The state has presented evidence to defense counsel that it intends to introduce evidence of bite analysis concerning the defendant. Specifically, the state intends to introduce evidence that the defendant took a bite out of a piece of cheese while inside the complaining witnesses' home. The state seized defendant's false teeth and had Emerick Huber, D.D.S., M.S., conduct an examination of the cheese as well as defendant's teeth. Dr. Huber concluded that defendant's dental impression matches the dental impression taken from the piece of cheese taken from the home.
It is clear to me that as of May 27, 1997, defense counsel had enough information to know what the orthodontist was going to testify about, and at least enough information to include his dental degree and his masters degree in the motion. The defense must have had a copy of the report, which was offered as a prosecution exhibit and excluded when Seivewright objected.
The Stipulated Order Requiring Discovery was filed on March 7, 1997, but according to the orthodontist's testimony, his notes of measurements were discarded after he formulated his conclusion from the examination he conducted in late February, and likely were not available as of the time of the discovery order. In any event, there is nothing to demonstrate prejudice as a result of those notes not being available. The thrust of the orthodontist's testimony was not much more complicated than matching pieces of a picture puzzle.
We have formalized in our Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure and our Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure the concept of harmless error. The appellate rule provides:
Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded by the reviewing court.
W.R.A.P. 9.04. The criminal rule provides:
(a) Harmless error.-Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.
W.R.Cr.P. 52(a). We have declared that the criminal rule is procedural in nature, and it did not adjust the substantive law in any way. Hays v. State, 522 P.2d 1004, 1007 (Wyo.1974).
In applying these rules, we have said:
"If the trial court erred by admitting evidence, we then must ascertain whether the error affects any substantial rights of the accused, providing grounds for reversal, or whether it is harmless. The harmless error standard is set out in W.R.A.P. 9.04:
'Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded by the reviewing court.'
See also W.R.Cr.P. 52. An error is harmful if there is a reasonable possibility that the verdict might have been more favorable to the defendant if the error had never occurred. Kolb v. State, 930 P.2d 1238, 1247 (Wyo.1996); Kerns v. State, 920 P.2d 632, 641 (Wyo.1996). To demonstrate harmful error, the defendant must show prejudice under 'cireumstances which manifest inherent unfairness and injustice, or conduct which offends the public sense of fair play.' Johnson v. State, 790 P.2d 231, 232 (Wyo.1990); see also Roderick v. State, 858 P.2d 538, 550 (Wyo.1993)."
Ryan v. State, 988 P.2d 46, 52-53 (Wyo.1999) (quoting Solis v. State, 981 P.2d 34, 36 (Wyo.1999)). The difficulty with the majority opinion in this case is that it does not articulate how these standards were satisfied any more than Seivewright does in his brief and argument.
It is clear from the record that prior availability of the report of the orthodontist and his curriculum vitae could not have affected the cross-examination by the defense attorney. The orthodontist testified that he substantially reported the curriculum vitae during direct examination by the prosecuting attorney. Defense counsel did not request the opportunity to voir dire the orthodontist prior to his testimony about the cheese and the dental impressions. Instead, he chose to attack that by cross-examination, which may *35have been a strategic decision. Counsel may have preferred that there be no ruling on the expert qualifications of the orthodontist prior to his testimony because had he objected to the qualifications, the trial judge obviously would have overruled that objection. It is abundantly clear from the record that the defense had available, at or prior to the cross-examination, the report of the orthodontist, although he testified that notes and measurements he made to construct his letter report had been destroyed.
The majority opinion does not include in the discussion of the facts other evidence that has a clear impact upon any prejudice to Seivewright. The day before the robbery, Seivewright told his neighbor that he and his co-defendant intended to rob some females on Pine Street, which is the street where the victim's home is located. The information given the neighbor included the fact that Seivewright would do the "manhandling" and the accomplice would do the talking. The victim testified she would have recognized Seivewright's voice since she had known him for three years. Seivewright's co-defendant's ex-girifriend testified that Seivewright and the co-defendant stayed at her house overnight before the robbery. They left the morning of the robbery around 8:45 a.m., and the robbery was initiated around 9:00 a.m. They returned about 10:00 a.m., divided some cash, and joked about the robbery, including the fact that they had taken the victim's van. The ex-girlfriend witnessed the two men changing clothes, and she saw Seivewright pull out a gun and lay it on a table. An inmate who had been in jail with Seivewright testified that he overheard Seivewright talking about the robbery, and later Seivewright told him that he had perpetrated the robbery.
All this makes it clear beyond any peradventure of any doubt that there was no "'reasonable possibility that the verdict might have been more favorable to the defendant if the error had never occurred."" Ryan, 988 P.2d at 52 (quoting Solis, 981 P.2d at 36). Seivewright has failed to meet his burden of showing "' "cireumstances which manifest inherent unfairness and injustice, or conduct which offends the public sense of fair - ' play."*" Ryan, 988 P.2d at 52-53 (quoting Solis, 981 P.2d at 36). His conviction should be affirmed. The State of Wyoming, Natro-na County, and the citizens should not have to bear the expense of another four-day trial in this case. It is not appropriate to impose that burden because of the identification of technical error.

. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 LEd.2d 469 (1993).