Court Opinion

ID: 9690520
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:19:37.076201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:58.762956
License: Public Domain

CONNOLLY, Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur in part I of the decision. However, I respectfully dissent from part II. I would affirm the district court’s decision to exclude the testimony of appellant’s expert witness. Our standard of review mandates deference to the district court’s decision where the evidence in the record shows the district court carefully considered the issue and did not make an error of law.
District courts have broad discretion in deciding whether testimony of qualified experts should be received, and this determination will be reversed only for a clear abuse of that discretion. State v. Helterbridle, 301 N.W.2d 545, 547 (Minn.1980).
Here the district court, after reviewing relevant supreme court precedent, concluded that permitting the testimony of Dr. Phipps-Yonas would have turned the determination of the credibility of the children into a battle of the experts. See State v. Ritt, 599 N.W.2d 802, 812 (Minn. 1999) (“[The supreme court] has been very reluctant to allow experts to testify about matters that are generally for the jury’s determination and are susceptible to cross-examination.”). Moreover, the district court did. permit the appellant to cross-examine the child-protection worker who interviewed the children about the questions and procedure she used during the interview.
Even if the district court abused its discretion by excluding the testimony of the expert witness, any such error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See State v. Post, 512 N.W.2d 99, 102 (Minn.1994) (holding that “the reviewing court must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that if the evidence had been admitted and the damaging potential of the evidence fully realized, an average jury (i.e., a reasonable jury) would have reached the same verdict” (citation omitted)). The evidence of appellant’s guilt was based on the live testimony of three different victims varying between the ages of 13 to 17. All three victims provided consistent testimony, which the jury believed.
Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the testimony of appellant’s expert witness, and even if it did, any resulting error was harmless, the convictions should be affirmed.