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Okay for Expert to Rely On Information from Social Workers Who Are Not Subjected to Cross-Examination

The Third Department, in a decision by Justice Peters, determined that an expert in a custody matter could rely on information provided by caseworkers who where not subject to cross-examination:

Initially, both the mother and the attorney for the children contend that the opinion testimony of Elizabeth Schockmel, the court-appointed forensic psychologist, should have been stricken because her opinion was based in part upon information she obtained from Department of Social Services caseworkers who were not subject to cross-examination.  We disagree. “[T]he professional reliability exception to the hearsay rule . . . enables an expert witness to provide opinion evidence based on otherwise inadmissible hearsay, provided it is demonstrated to be the type of material commonly relied on in the profession” … . Here,   Schockmel testified – without contradiction – that information obtained from  collateral sources is commonly  relied upon  within her profession when  conducting a forensic psychological evaluation in the context of a custody proceeding …. Moreover, her opinion was  principally based upon  information she obtained from  her extensive interviews with the mother, father and  children, with the collateral source information serving as but “a link in the chain of data” that assisted her in forming her opinion … . Accordingly,  Schockmel’s expert opinion testimony was  properly admitted.  Matter of Greene v Robarge, 512987, 3rd Dept 3-28-13

 

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