Minnesota Supreme Court Faults Medical Examiner's Testimony
In a decision issued this past Thursday, the Supreme Court of Minnesota voiced skepticism that a medical examiner can tell you, based solely on an inspection of a murder victim's wounds, that multiple people participated in the victim's stabbing.
On voir dire, the expert attributed his opinion to "common sense." Using a mannequin and a ruler as a knife, he demonstrated that a single individual could not inflict the wounds without exerting himself. "[A]s you see," he said, "I'm sweating quite vigorously, this is quite an exercise, this is a workout. Most people are going to do this in the easiest fashion that they can, and in my opinion that represents to me more than one stabber." Asked if other forensic pathologists would analyze the issue in similar terms, the medical examiner said: "[W]e use it all the time in our own office in terms of discussing a scenario. Whether or not other members of my -- my collegial affiliation are willing to go ahead and get on the stand and say that, I can't answer that."
On appeal from his conviction, the defendant said the medical examiner's testimony lacked foundational reliability. "This appears," said Minnesota's high court, "to be a legitimate complaint." It held, however, that any error was harmless, because: (1) the medical examiner was effectively cross-examined; (2) the defendant called an expert of his own; (3) the defendant was charged with accomplice liability; and (4) "there was no reasonable possibility that the expert's testimony substantially influenced the guilty verdict." See State v. Crow, No. A06-229 (Minn. Apr. 19, 2007).
On voir dire, the expert attributed his opinion to "common sense." Using a mannequin and a ruler as a knife, he demonstrated that a single individual could not inflict the wounds without exerting himself. "[A]s you see," he said, "I'm sweating quite vigorously, this is quite an exercise, this is a workout. Most people are going to do this in the easiest fashion that they can, and in my opinion that represents to me more than one stabber." Asked if other forensic pathologists would analyze the issue in similar terms, the medical examiner said: "[W]e use it all the time in our own office in terms of discussing a scenario. Whether or not other members of my -- my collegial affiliation are willing to go ahead and get on the stand and say that, I can't answer that."
On appeal from his conviction, the defendant said the medical examiner's testimony lacked foundational reliability. "This appears," said Minnesota's high court, "to be a legitimate complaint." It held, however, that any error was harmless, because: (1) the medical examiner was effectively cross-examined; (2) the defendant called an expert of his own; (3) the defendant was charged with accomplice liability; and (4) "there was no reasonable possibility that the expert's testimony substantially influenced the guilty verdict." See State v. Crow, No. A06-229 (Minn. Apr. 19, 2007).
Labels: Minnesota
posted by pn at 12:40 PM
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We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. ยง 2253(a). Jackson was convicted in New York Supreme Court. The District Court granted habeas relief on both offenses based on two separate claims: (1) Jackson was deprived of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment by the trial court's refusal to allow the jury to consider a justification defense. (2) he was denied effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment when trial counsel cited inapposite case law to the court. 1997 2 Jackson was the superintendent of an apartment building at 110 Grove Street in Brooklyn. A group of family members and friends was drinking and playing cards in apartment 1B. Who was joined that evening by her sister in law. Who was Bernadette's brother and Mirna's husband. That Natalie Hall and her friends were inside apartment 2E. Drummond was a friend of Jackson's who lived in the building. There is some dispute over precisely what happened next. He later testified that he The medical examiner later determined that Brown's blood alcohol content was 0.21%.
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johnsmith
Minnesota Treatment Centers
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