Opinion
CRIMINAL 20-20138
03-28-2022
United States of America v. Thomas Daniels, Defendant
ORDER
Robert N. Scola, Jr., United States District Judge
Before the Court is the Government's oral motion to exclude the Defendant's expert report (ECF No. 108), made in court on March 28, 2022, prior to the start of the trial in this matter. After careful consideration of the arguments made by the parties in court and the relevant legal authorities, the Court grants the motion.
The Eleventh Circuit has held that the testimony of an eyewitness expert “is often not helpful to the jury.” See U.S. v. Grace, 711 Fed.Appx. 495, 501 (11th Cir. 2017); see also U.S. v. Smith, 122 F.3d 1355, 1357 (11th Cir. 1997) (noting that such expert testimony may “open the door to a barrage of marginally relevant psychological evidence”) (quoting U.S. v. Thevis, 665 F.2d 616, 641 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982)). The binding precedent of the Eleventh Circuit allows courts to exclude such eyewitness expert testimony. See Grace, 711 Fed.Appx. at 501. The Court finds that in the exercise of its discretion, this expert testimony should be excluded. The Defendant may still attack the reliability of any victim's eyewitness testimony through “the powerful tool of cross-examination, ” and the Court will also consider giving additional jury instructions “that highlight particular problems in eyewitness recollection.” See Smith, 122 F.3d at 1359.
For the reasons set forth above and in court, the Court grants the Government's oral motion to exclude the expert report of Nadja Schreiber Compo.
Done and ordered.