Federal Appellate Round-Up
We've been on the road. Let's catch you up on five federal appellate decisions from this past week:
United States v. Hicks, No. 03-40655 (5th Cir. Nov. 2, 2004) (King, Smith, & Garza, JJ.). A criminal defendant failed to preserve error via offer of proof at trial following the lower court's pretrial ruling barring testimony from the defendant's ballistics expert.
United States v. Padilla, No. 02-50636 (9th Cir. Nov. 2, 2004) (Wallace, Canby, & Thomas, JJ.). A law enforcement officer's expert testimony on gangs was upheld.
United States v. Janis, No. 03-3808 (8th Cir. Nov. 1, 2004) (Arnold, Fagg, & Riley, JJ.). Prosecution fingerprint testimony was upheld.
Brown v. Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc., No. 04-1351 (4th Cir. Oct. 29, 2004) (Luttig, Michael, & Kiser, JJ.) (unpublished). The trial court did not have to perform a gatekeeping analysis of a treating physician's opinion that plaintiff's guardian lacked the mental capacity to enter into a binding contract, because the physician was a fact witness and/or offering lay opinion under Fed. R. Evid. 701 -- not a witness relying on "scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge" or offering expert opinion under Fed. R. Evid. 702. In any event, the witness "was [the guardian's] treating physician for sixteen years. The fact that his practice is internal medicine rather than neurology does not negate the fact that he is a qualified physician with more first-hand knowledge concerning [the guardian's] physical and mental well-being than any other medical professional."
Poulis-Minott v. Smith, No. 03-2601 (1st Cir. Oct. 28, 2004) (Torruella, Dyk, & Howard, JJ.). The First Circuit upheld various rulings on expert qualifications and reliability in a Jones Act case.
United States v. Hicks, No. 03-40655 (5th Cir. Nov. 2, 2004) (King, Smith, & Garza, JJ.). A criminal defendant failed to preserve error via offer of proof at trial following the lower court's pretrial ruling barring testimony from the defendant's ballistics expert.
United States v. Padilla, No. 02-50636 (9th Cir. Nov. 2, 2004) (Wallace, Canby, & Thomas, JJ.). A law enforcement officer's expert testimony on gangs was upheld.
United States v. Janis, No. 03-3808 (8th Cir. Nov. 1, 2004) (Arnold, Fagg, & Riley, JJ.). Prosecution fingerprint testimony was upheld.
Brown v. Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc., No. 04-1351 (4th Cir. Oct. 29, 2004) (Luttig, Michael, & Kiser, JJ.) (unpublished). The trial court did not have to perform a gatekeeping analysis of a treating physician's opinion that plaintiff's guardian lacked the mental capacity to enter into a binding contract, because the physician was a fact witness and/or offering lay opinion under Fed. R. Evid. 701 -- not a witness relying on "scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge" or offering expert opinion under Fed. R. Evid. 702. In any event, the witness "was [the guardian's] treating physician for sixteen years. The fact that his practice is internal medicine rather than neurology does not negate the fact that he is a qualified physician with more first-hand knowledge concerning [the guardian's] physical and mental well-being than any other medical professional."
Poulis-Minott v. Smith, No. 03-2601 (1st Cir. Oct. 28, 2004) (Torruella, Dyk, & Howard, JJ.). The First Circuit upheld various rulings on expert qualifications and reliability in a Jones Act case.
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