Criteria for Presentation of Defense Expert Re: the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony Explained (Criteria Not Met Here)

In finding that the defendant’s request to present expert evidence on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony was properly denied, the Second Department explained the relevant criteria:

Where a case “turns on the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and there is little or no corroborating evidence connecting the defendant to the crime, it is an abuse of discretion for a trial court to exclude expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identifications if that testimony is (1) relevant to the witness’s identification of defendant, (2) based on principles that are generally accepted within the relevant scientific community, (3) proffered by a qualified expert and (4) on a topic beyond the ken of the average juror” … . Here, however, there was sufficient corroborating evidence connecting the defendant to the crimes to obviate the need for expert testimony * * *.  People v Granger, 2014 NY Slip Op 08349, 2nd Dept 11-26-14