Saturday, March 18, 2006

Tennessee High Court Upholds Exclusion of Attorney Testimony on Ineffective Assistance

The Supreme Court of Tennessee has upheld the exclusion of expert testimony from an attorney who sought to opine, in post-conviction proceedings, that the petitioner received ineffective assistance from counsel at trial. See Howell v. State, No. E2003-01469-SC-R11-PC (Tenn. Mar. 16, 2006).

Tennessee follows a more stringent variant of Fed. R. Evid. 702. Under Tennessee's version, expert testimony must "substantially" assist the trier of fact. The trial judge had ten years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and twenty-five years as a criminal court judge. The high court agreed with his assessment that he didn't need the help.

posted by pn at 3:34 PM  

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Fed. R. Evid. 702: 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, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.