U.S. v. Hall

• Citation: 165 F.3d 1095
• Decision Date: 16 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-4032,97-4032
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry D. HALL, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 1095

165 F.3d 1095

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry D. HALL, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 97-4032.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 10, 1998.

Decided Jan. 19, 1999.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied Feb. 16, 1999.

Lawrence S. Beaumont (argued), Office of United States Attorney, Urbana Division, Urbana, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Craig H. DeArmond, Kurth & Dearmond, Danville, IL, David B. Mote (argued), Office of Federal Public Defender, Springfield, IL, Richard H. Parsons, Office of Public Defender, Peoria, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before COFFEY, EASTERBROOK, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

This matter comes before us for the second time. The facts and circumstances of the underlying case are fully set forth in United States v. Hall, 93 F.3d 1337 (7th Cir.1996) ("Hall I"), and we will only briefly discuss them here. Jessica Roach was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 20, 1993, riding her bicycle near her home in Georgetown, Illinois. On November 8, 1993, Jessica's decomposed body was discovered in a cornfield near Perrysville, Indiana, a few miles from Georgetown. In late 1994, Larry D. Hall came under police suspicion in this case after the police questioned Hall regarding his stalking of other teen-aged girls in 1993 and 1994. In the course of the ensuing police investigation, Hall made admissions about his involvement in Jessica's disappearance and, ultimately, signed a written confession admitting he kidnapped and murdered her.

Prosecutors charged Hall in a one-count indictment with the offense of kidnapping Jessica Roach for the purpose of his own sexual gratification and wilfully transporting her from Illinois to Indiana in violation of federal law. A jury convicted Hall, and the district court sentenced him to a term of life imprisonment. On August 27, 1996, this Court vacated Hall's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial on the ground that the district court improperly excluded expert testimony regarding false confessions without first testing the proffers under the standards of Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). See Hall, 93 F.3d at 1346.

Hall was retried, and, a jury once again convicted him. Hall now appeals from that conviction on numerous grounds. He argues that: (1) the district court improperly excluded expert testimony relating to the reliability of eyewitness identification; (2) the district court erroneously excluded hearsay evidence implicating other suspects; (3) the government, in its opening statement, improperly commented on potential defense alibi witnesses thereby depriving Hall of a fair trial; (4) the district court improperly admitted expert evidence relating to characteristics of sex offenders offered to rebut Hall's proffer of psychiatric evidence that he suffered from certain personality disorders which made him prone to confess to a crime he did not commit; and (5) the district court improperly precluded Hall from introducing exhibits during the government's case-in-chief. Because we find these arguments unpersuasive, we affirm Hall's conviction.

I. EXCLUSION OF EXPERT TESTIMONY REGARDING THE RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION

Hall's first challenge is that the district court abused its discretion in excluding expert testimony concerning the reliability of eyewitness identification. The conviction in this case was aided by the testimony of three eyewitnesses who placed Hall in the approximate location of the crime the day before it was committed and the testimony of another eyewitness who saw Hall exit a cornfield in which the victim's body was later found. Seeking to challenge the reliability of these eyewitness identifications, Hall filed a motion requesting that the district court permit him to present expert testimony from Dr. Gary L. Wells, a professor of psychology at Iowa State University. Dr. Wells' testimony would have commented on the scientific bases for eyewitness identification and on those factors that give rise to suggestiveness and the likelihood of mistaken identification. ¹ Subsequently, the district court held a hearing during which these eyewitnesses testified at length and during which the district court considered arguments on Hall's motion to admit Dr. Wells' testimony. Although Hall was prepared to offer testimony from Dr. Wells at that hearing, the district court ruled that Dr. Wells need not testify. The district court explained that even though Dr. Wells "appear[ed] to be qualified as an expert in the field of eyewitness identification, memory and recall, his testimony would not aid the trier of fact under Rule 702, and that appears to be the controlling law in the Seventh Circuit." Consequently, the district court denied Hall's motion. Hall now appeals that ruling.

When a party challenges the acceptance or rejection of expert scientific testimony on appeal, this Court first undertakes a de novo review of whether the district court properly followed the framework set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). See United States v. Yoon, 128 F.3d 515, 527 (7th Cir.1997); Hall, 93 F.3d at 1342; Bradley v. Brown, 42 F.3d 434, 436 (7th Cir.1994). Upon a determination that the district court properly applied the Daubert framework, the district court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony is reviewed only for an abuse of discretion. General Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 118 S.Ct. 512, 517, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997); Target Mkt. Publ'g, Inc. v. ADVO, Inc., 136 F.3d 1139, 1143 (7th Cir.1998). As such, a trial court has broad discretion under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence to admit or exclude evidence, and its ruling will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion. United States v. Larkin, 978 F.2d 964, 971 (7th Cir.1992); United States v. Hudson, 884 F.2d 1016, 1023-24 (7th Cir.1989).

As stated above, in reviewing the district court's application of Rule 702, we first must consider whether the district court followed the standard set forth in Daubert. In Daubert, the Supreme Court established the approach a district court must take in determining the admissibility of expert scientific testimony under Rule 702. The text of Rule 702 provides:

If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.

Focusing on the language of Rule 702, the Supreme Court concluded that when faced with a proffer of expert scientific testimony, a district court must determine "whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue." Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592, 113 S.Ct. 2786.

We have interpreted Daubert as requiring a district court to conduct a two-step analysis when a party proffers expert scientific testimony. See Yoon, 128 F.3d at 527; Wintz v. Northrop Corp., 110 F.3d 508 512 (7th Cir.1997); Hall, 93 F.3d at 1341; Porter v. Whitehall Labs., Inc., 9 F.3d 607, 614-16 (7th Cir.1993). First, when faced with a proffer of expert scientific testimony, the district court must "consider whether the testimony has been subjected to the scientific method; it must rule out 'subjective belief or unsupported speculation.' " Porter, 9 F.3d at 614 (citation omitted). This step requires that the district court determine "whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid." Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592-93, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Second, the district court must "determine whether the evidence or testimony assists the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or in determining a fact in issue." Porter, 9 F.3d at 616. This second step requires that the district court consider whether the proposed scientific testimony fits the issue to which the expert is testifying. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786; Gruca v. Alpha Therapeutic Corp., 51 F.3d 638, 643 (7th Cir.1995); Porter, 9 F.3d 607 at 616. In other words, a district court may admit expert testimony only if such testimony will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue.

On appeal, Hall essentially argues that the district court believed it had no discretion under the law of this Circuit to admit expert testimony regarding the reliability of the eyewitness identifications, and, therefore, the district court erroneously excluded Dr. Wells' testimony. Because we conclude that the district court conducted a proper inquiry under Daubert and Rule 702 and because we find that the district court properly exercised its discretion in precluding Hall's proffer of Dr. Wells' testimony, we reject Hall's argument.

A. The District Court Properly Applied the Daubert Framework

Hall contends that the district court believed it had no discretion to allow expert testimony regarding the reliability of eyewitness identifications. For this reason, Hall submits the district court excluded Dr. Wells' testimony without properly testing the proffer under the framework set forth in Daubert. Relying heavily on our decision in Hall I, Hall argues that the district court failed to make the requisite preliminary findings as to the reliability and helpfulness of Dr. Wells' testimony as required by Daubert and the law of this Circuit.

In Hall I, we reversed Hall's earlier conviction on the basis that the district court did not apply the proper Daubert framework in evaluating Hall's proffer of an expert on false confessions. Hall, 93 F.3d at 1346. In reaching that conclusion, we stated that "[t]he judge never mentioned Daubert...