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EXPERT TESllMONY ON EYnnreMESS MEMORYIUnder Fedend Rule of Evidence 702, you ha~e the right to presentscientific, @technical, or o h specialized expert testimony, to assist thejut7 to ~~~lde~stand or determiue afact in issue. In Dnt~be~l u. df~vrellDon, Pl~arn~~aceulicals, hc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), the Supreme Courteliminated the "Frye test", hokling t11at it ha beell replaced by Rule702. Under the "Rye T'", expelt testimony wa inadtnisstble unlesstl~e tecluniques OII whic11 t11c opiniom were baed had bee11 gel~erduyaccepted in the relevant scie~~titic comn~unitg. Frj'e u. UnitedStates,54 App. D.C. 46,47, 2% E 2d 1013, 1014 (1923). Da~bwt rejectsthe standard br admissibility of e.xperl opinion articulated il~fiye andgises the trial judge "the task of ensuring that a11 expert's testin~o~~yboth rests on areliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand".Dalbert, 509 U.S. at 580. Dmbert is particularly intporla~t on thetopic of eyewitness identikation teslimony bccause the S~upren~e CmnZrelied on the a11a1)sis of thel%itd C~rcuit in UnifedSfdcs u. Doming,753 E2d 1224 (3d Gic 1985), wvluch inval\.ed the admission of experttesth~my on e)cwitness icle~~tificatiou. The Third Circuit adopted a"helphhss tesr'based on the scientific language of Fede~xl Rule ofEvidence 702. Dmwing, 753 B2d at 1230. III Downing, once tlwdefendant Itad properly demonstrated the reliability of the expert ophion,the trial colrrt allowed the expert witl~ess to testify about commouinnccuracies of perception caued by s$ress aI~d other problems witheyewitness identification Id. at 1230.In order to convince tlte coml that your experf's testimony is relewt,)mr expen mst be ready to q h n ho\r.psychological shldiesdeu~onsh'ate tlnt tile eyenitness ide~~tiGcation in your caseis unreliableand could have ppl-ot~ccd a mistaken identification of the defendant ifIre or she is not the peqetntor. Yo11 can aclkve tbis througl~ either aproffer or hearing.\Vim challenging epvitness identiRmtion with expert testimony,the district court 11as discretiall as to admissibilit): OLII Fir111 Circuitmakes a adistinctio~~ between proper and impropcr refusal of a court toadmit such testimony bmd OII the inlpollance of t11c eyewitness identificationto tile deterluioation of guilt or i~moceoce. Ut~iteulStntes u.illoor.e, 786 F. Zd 1308 (1986). The~lfoove conrt 11as accepted the scic~~tificdidity md reltability of such evidence but finds ils esclusionappropriate nrhere the eyewitness identifmtion is not "critical". Id. at1313.The Fift11 Ci~cuit seems to deke critical illstances wllere "casuale)wit~~ess testimmy may u~ak the wlive d8ercnce behwn a fu~dimgof guilt or innocence". id at 1312. The appellate coult d ~d hold thatin aU mllcr cases \\711ere the eyewitness itlet~lificationr is not critical,adnusslon of such testinmy is discretio~~q However, eqzcrt testimonyin those c w in "wl1ic11 the sole teslimonyis casbd eyenp1lnessidentification, expert testimony regarding the accuracy of the idenacationis adnuss~ble and properly m y be ewouraged.".Id. 1312.In sum, scienac expelt testimony, such as from a ps).cl~ologist orpsychiahist, will beallowed if it is based upon scientific htorrledge nu11will assist the Rier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issueJust because eyewitness is certain tl~nt his or hernmmy is correct, that does not meall that the memo~yis tn11y accurale.Vienring pi~otospreads and line-ups \\itl~oal carefulinstructions and precautions call make errors worse.In cases \hen convictions have been overtun~ecl becauseof new evidence, tile most conchmoll reason for tile originalconvictions were iulaccunte witness identi6c;ltionsof people.Human memory, includingeyewitness memory, can behighly fallible and inaccurateIh~man memory is not like a \ideotape, recording esperie~resexactly as they happen.Allhougl~ memoly often selves us i d in eveqdny life,people tend to ignore or forget about memory fnilnres.Stages of MemoryHman memoly co~~sisls of three stages, any of w11icI1can cause erron:PerceptionDeGned as an inte~pretation of w11;lt our sews tell usIs allected by awuptians and infe~wcesCan be easily confused (e.g., opticdillusions, magician'ssleigl~t of i~and)Is especially conh~setl under lug11 anxiety or stress"Perception of siimuli untler high stress is fragmented,unstn~ctured, reckless, short- circuited, narrowi~~ focus,and often nonse~~sicdly interpreted." (Yam~e): 1990. p.295)Storage for RetentionCan be dfectetl by interference (seeing other faces)RetrievalRetrieval failureOverview of an Expert's TestimonyThere are rimy factors, swh as stress amid high aniety,ll~at can lessen the zccu~'acy of ejevitness memotyOClOBER 2001 WWW.TCOla.COM VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE 21