US v. Meija
Oct 06, 2008OUTCOME: Conviction overturned on appeal
On Monday, October 6, 2008, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed conviction in US v Meija, 05-2856cr, holding that the testimony of the government’s expert violated the Federal Rules of Evi ... dence and the Confrontation Clause under Crawford. The opinion by Judge Hall traces the emergence of the officer expert over the last twenty-two years beginning with US v Ardito through US v Lombardozzi. In Meija, the Court found that the government had exceeded the latitude afforded previously and had used the so-called expert as a means to place otherwise inadmissible hearsay before the jury. While FRE 703 permits an expert to testify as to opinions based on inadmissible evidence, the Court held that government could not use FRE 703 as an end run around the rule against hearsay. The Court also held that the expert testimony communicating the out-of-court testimony of cooperating witnesses and informants violated Crawford. This case was reported in the New York Law Journal on October 7, 2008