State of New Jersey v. David Granskie, Jr. , 433 N.J. Super. 44 ( 2013 )

RECORD IMPOUNDED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-2990-12T3
APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
October 16, 2013
Plaintiff-Appellant, APPELLATE DIVISION
v.
DAVID GRANSKIE, JR.,
Defendant-Respondent.
____________________________________
Argued September 17, 2013 – Decided October 16, 2013
Before Judges Reisner, Alvarez and Ostrer.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New
Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County,
Indictment No. 09-08-0572.
Nathan Howe, Assistant Prosecutor, argued
the cause for appellant (Geoffrey D.
Soriano, Somerset County Prosecutor,
attorney; Joseph V. Rocchietti, Assistant
Prosecutor, and Mr. Howe, on the briefs).
Jacqueline E. Turner, Assistant Deputy
Public Defender, argued the cause for
respondent (Joseph E. Krakora, Public
Defender, attorney; Ms. Turner, of counsel
and on the brief).
The opinion of the court was delivered by
REISNER, P.J.A.D.
By leave granted, the State appeals from a January 16, 2013
trial court order permitting the defense to present expert
psychiatric testimony concerning the potential impact of
defendant's opiate addiction and withdrawal symptoms on the
reliability of his confession. We conclude that the defense may
present expert psychiatric testimony, so long as it is limited
pursuant to the principles stated in this opinion.
Defendant was suspected of participating in a brutal sexual
assault and murder. Two of his friends confessed to their
involvement, but did not implicate defendant. He initially
denied any involvement in the crime. However, a few days later,
while he was in jail on an unrelated warrant, he confessed.
Prior to his trial, defendant claimed that the confession was
not voluntary and was unreliable, because he was suffering from
severe heroin withdrawal symptoms at the time he gave the
statement.
Following a N.J.R.E. 104 hearing, the trial judge held that
at an upcoming Miranda1 hearing and at trial defendant could
present an expert psychiatrist to testify about the possible
relationship between his heroin withdrawal and his confession.
The expert would be permitted to testify that defendant was
addicted to heroin and was suffering from withdrawal when he
1
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d
694 (1966).
2 A-2990-12T3
gave his statement to the police, and that his claims about the
effects of withdrawal were "consistent with his claim that he
was giving an unreliable statement at the time" of his
confession, "given his history of issues with heroin
dependence."
In a written opinion, dated January 15, 2012, the trial
judge explained his reasons for admitting the testimony.
Relying on State v. King, 387 N.J. Super. 522 (App. Div. 2006),
he concluded that the testimony was admissible to explain
defendant's mental disorder to the jury and to explain why
someone suffering from heroin withdrawal might confess to a
crime as a result of the effect of the withdrawal symptoms,
whether or not the confession was accurate. However, the judge
ruled that the expert could not testify as to whether this
defendant's statement was reliable or unreliable. After
reviewing the record and the applicable law, we agree with the
trial judge.
In evaluating a proffer of expert testimony, the court must
apply the provisions of N.J.R.E. 702.
[T]he rule sets forth three basic
requirements for the admission of expert
testimony: "'(1) the intended testimony
must concern a subject matter that is beyond
the ken of the average juror; (2) the field
testified to must be at a state of the art
that an expert's testimony could be
sufficiently reliable; and (3) the witness
3 A-2990-12T3
must have sufficient expertise to offer the
intended testimony.'"
[State v. Torres, 183 N.J. 554, 567-68
(2005) (citation omitted).]
Those requirements are construed "liberally" in favor of
admitting expert testimony. State v. Jenewicz, 193 N.J. 440,
454 (2008). We review a trial judge's evidentiary rulings --
including a decision to permit an expert to testify pursuant to
N.J.R.E. 702 -- for abuse of discretion. Id. at 455.
On this appeal, the State characterizes the trial judge's
decision as a departure from established case law. We disagree.
His ruling was consistent with settled precedent upholding a
defendant's right to present expert testimony designed to
explain to the jury why a particular defendant's psychological
condition would make that defendant vulnerable to giving a false
confession. By contrast, courts have routinely rejected efforts
to present expert testimony concerning the phenomenon of false
confessions in general or the impact of police interrogation
methods in producing false confessions.2
2
Much of the State's brief is devoted to arguing that
defendant's expert should not be permitted to testify because
there is no scientific basis for the theory that drug addiction
causes false confessions. That is a "straw man" argument, based
on an inaccurate characterization of the expert's proposed
testimony. On cross-examination, the expert explained that
"there is a body of literature that discusses the symptoms and
how certain psychiatric disorders can cause a person to be
vulnerable to giving . . . false confessions but not necessarily
(continued)
4 A-2990-12T3
In this State, the leading cases are State v. Free, 351
N.J. Super. 203 (App. Div. 2002), State v. King, supra, and
State v. Rosales, 202 N.J. 549 (2010). In Free, the defense
sought to introduce expert testimony addressing false
confessions as a phenomenon and applying the expert's views on
that topic to the details of the defendant's interrogation in
that case. We held that the testimony was inadmissible,
distinguishing cases permitting testimony about a specific
defendant's psychological diagnosis:
However, in each of those cases the
psychological testimony concerned
scientifically recognized mental disorders
relevant to each defendant's confession,
rather than, as here, testimony about the
effects, in general, of police interrogation
techniques. We also acknowledge that a few
decisions from other jurisdictions have
permitted psychological testimony on the
effects of police interrogation. For now,
we merely note that none of them went as far
as the trial judge did here, and that, in
any case, as shall appear, we do not find
them persuasive.
[Free, supra, 351 N.J. Super. at 213(citation omitted).]
(continued)
saying that this . . . psychiatric disorder causes false
confessions." The expert then gave a lengthy explanation of the
physical and mental effects of heroin withdrawal and how it
could affect an addict's responses to questions. However, he
also testified that he could not opine whether this defendant's
confession was true or false. The State's argument on this
point warrants no further discussion here. R. 2:11-3(e)(2).
5 A-2990-12T3
By contrast, in King, the defendant had a long and
documented history of mental illnesses of various types
recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM). See King, supra, 387 N.J. Super. at 532. We
held that the defendant could present expert opinions concerning
his mental illness and testimony explaining to the jury why
someone with those types of mental illnesses would be more
vulnerable to giving false confessions. Id. at 538. However,
we held that the expert could not testify that this defendant's
confession was false or was a product of his mental disease.
Id. at 540.
Our decision in King derived from the United States Supreme
Court's opinion in Crane v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683, 106 S. Ct.
2142, 90 L. Ed. 2d 636 (1986). There, the Court held that a
defendant had a constitutional right to present evidence
concerning "the physical and psychological environment in which
the confession was obtained." Id. at 684, 106 S. Ct. at 2143,
90 L. Ed. 2d at 641. The Court reasoned that such evidence was
relevant and admissible on the issue of the truthfulness, as
well as the voluntariness, of a confession:
[T]he circumstances surrounding the taking
of a confession can be highly relevant to
two separate inquiries, one legal and one
factual. The manner in which a statement
was extracted is, of course, relevant to the
purely legal question of its voluntariness,
a question most, but not all, States assign
6 A-2990-12T3
to the trial judge alone to resolve. But
the physical and psychological environment
that yielded the confession can also be of
substantial relevance to the ultimate
factual issue of the defendant's guilt or
innocence. Confessions, even those that
have been found to be voluntary, are not
conclusive of guilt. And, as with any other
part of the prosecutor's case, a confession
may be shown to be "insufficiently
corroborated or otherwise . . . unworthy of
belief." Indeed, stripped of the power to
describe to the jury the circumstances that
prompted his confession, the defendant is
effectively disabled from answering the one
question every rational juror needs
answered: If the defendant is innocent, why
did he previously admit his guilt?
[Id. at 688-89, 106 S. Ct. at 2145-46, 90 L.
Ed. 2d at 644 (citations omitted).]
The Court noted that the issue of whether a confession was
voluntary might overlap with whether it was reliable. However,
a defendant has the right to present the jury with evidence on
the confession's unreliability, even if the judge earlier held
that the confession was voluntary:
[R]egardless of whether the defendant
marshaled the same evidence earlier in
support of an unsuccessful motion to
suppress, and entirely independent of any
question of voluntariness, a defendant's
case may stand or fall on his ability to
convince the jury that the manner in which
the confession was obtained casts doubt on
its credibility.
[Id. at 689, 106 S. Ct. at 2146, 90 L. Ed.
2d at 644 (citations omitted).]
7 A-2990-12T3
In King, we recognized that courts from many other
jurisdictions had relied on Crane in permitting expert testimony
concerning "a defendant's psychological makeup and internal
psychological characteristics impacting on the reliability of
the confession." King, supra, 387 N.J. Super. at 538.
In People v. Hamilton, 163 Mich. App. 661,
415 N.W.2d 653 (1987), the Michigan Court of
Appeals reversed a murder conviction because
of the trial court's exclusion of testimony
by a clinical psychologist as to how the
defendant's psychological makeup might have
affected his statements to the police. The
Court stated, "Crane did not concern
evidence of the defendant's psychological
makeup, but focused instead on the physical
and psychological aspects of an
interrogation. Nonetheless, we believe the
United States Supreme Court's reasoning is
equally applicable to otherwise admissible
expert testimony." Id. at 655; see also,
State v. Oliver, 280 Kan. 681, 124 P.3d 493,
505-09 (2005) (holding psychologist's
testimony of the defendant's post-traumatic
stress disorder and dependent personality
disorder admissible as part of the
psychological environment under Crane as
bearing on defendant's ability to respond
reliably to interrogation, but finding
preclusion of testimony harmless error),
cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S. Ct. 2361,
165 L. Ed. 2d 286 (2006); State v. Buechler,
253 Neb. 727, 572 N.W.2d 65, 71-74 (1998)
(reversing a murder conviction, holding that
under Crane a clinical psychologist should
have been allowed to testify that the
defendant's drug withdrawal and
psychological disorders may have resulted in
a false confession, as such testimony
pertained to the psychological circumstances
under which the defendant confessed and had
a bearing on the reliability of the
confession); Pritchett v. Commonwealth, 263
8 A-2990-12T3
Va. 182, 557 S.E.2d 205, 208 (2002) (same as
to testimony of clinical and forensic
psychologists about the defendant's mental
retardation and vulnerability to
interrogative suggestibility).
[Id. at 538-39.]
Notably, that precedent included Buechler, supra, which
addressed the admissibility of expert testimony concerning the
defendant's drug withdrawal.3 There, the Nebraska Supreme Court
held that the testimony was admissible to explain the
defendant's mental state and how it might have affected the
reliability of his confession:
Thus, we reach the question as to whether
the district court here abused its
discretion in rejecting the psychologist's
proffered testimony, which undertook not to
tell the jury how to decide the case or what
result should be reached on any issue to be
resolved by it, but, rather, to explain
Buechler's mental state at the time of the
recorded confession. While ordinary citizens
might understand that drug withdrawal is
uncomfortable, without expert evidence
3
In McIntosh v. State, 532 So.2d 1129, 1130 (Fla. App. 1988),
the court held that the defendant should have been permitted to
present testimony that "she was, during the confession,
'jonesing' or coming down from a high which impaired her ability
to withstand pressure." The court did not specify whether the
proposed testimony was from a lay or expert witness, but stated
that excluding the evidence deprived the defendant of a
"meaningful opportunity" to challenge the confession's
reliability and hence "to present a complete defense." Ibid.See also State v. Burns, 691 P.2d 297, 301-02 (Ariz. 1984)
(defendant, who claimed he was under the influence of LSD when
he confessed, was entitled to attack the confession's
reliability by presenting expert testimony concerning the drug's
effects).
9 A-2990-12T3
ordinary citizens would not be expected
to understand that in Buechler's case,
withdrawal, combined with his disorders, may
have made him suggestible, may have caused
him to process information haphazardly, and
may have caused him to reach faulty
conclusions. Under that state of the record,
we must conclude that the district court
abused its discretion in excluding the
proffered testimony.
[Buechler, supra, 572 N.W.2d at 73.]
The admissibility issue, however, long predated Buechler.
In 1879, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a defendant was
entitled to present expert testimony that he suffered from
alcohol addiction and withdrawal symptoms at the time of his
confession:
The defendant, for the purpose of showing
his mental condition at the time of the
alleged confession testified to by Mrs.
Squires, introduced witnesses who showed
that prior to that time he had been
exceedingly intemperate. The defendant then
called one Dr. Hay as an expert in nervous
diseases, including delirium tremens and
other forms of insanity. He was asked in
substance what mental condition was
indicated in the defendant at the time he
was seen by Mrs. Squires, supposing his
conduct, language and appearance to be such
as described by her, and supposing his
habits to be such as shown in regard to
drink. The counsel for the State objected
to the question as incompetent and
immaterial to the main issue in the case.
The counsel for the defendant then stated
that they proposed to show by the witness
that the defendant, at the time of the
alleged confession, was laboring under
delirium tremens. The counsel for the State
repeated their objection, and the objection
10 A-2990-12T3
was sustained. In this we think that the
court erred. Where a confession is shown,
and there is evidence tending to show that
the defendant, at the time of the
confession, was laboring under delirium
tremens, or was otherwise insane, we think
that the opinion of an expert may properly
be taken upon the defendant's mental
condition as indicated by the proven facts.
We see no reason why his insanity may not be
established by any kind of evidence which is
employed in any case to establish such a
fact.
[State v. Feltes, 1 N.W. 755, 760 (Iowa
1879).]
Hence, it is well established that a defendant has the right to
present expert psychological testimony bearing on the
reliability of his confession.
Nonetheless, that right has limits. While a defendant may
present expert testimony bearing on psychological diagnoses that
require knowledge outside the understanding of lay jurors, an
expert may not testify to factors within the ken of the average
juror. See Rosales, supra, 202 N.J. at 563. Thus, expert
testimony is unnecessary to explain to jurors why a defendant
might have falsely confessed after the police allegedly
threatened to electrocute him. Id. at 566. Nor may an expert
invade the jury's role by testifying that a defendant "confessed
to a crime he did not commit." Id. at 552.
While Rosales upheld the trial court's exclusion of expert
testimony about false confessions, we find the State's heavy
11 A-2990-12T3
reliance on Rosales to be misplaced. In Rosales, the Court
cited King and Free with approval. It found that, as in Free
and unlike in King, the expert evidence Rosales offered
consisted of generalities about false confessions, untethered to
any recognized psychological disorder.
In the present case, we agree with the
Appellate Division's conclusion that the
proposed expert opinion of Dr. Latimer was
more akin to the expert testimony disallowed
in Free, supra, and unlike the expert
testimony allowed in King, supra. Here,
defendant had no longstanding prior
diagnosis of a mental disorder. Instead, in
support of defendant's motion to allow
expert testimony on false confessions, Dr.
Latimer simply alluded to defendant's
generalized notions of anxiety and fear in
the interrogation setting, as well as his
education and national origin.
Simply stated, we find nothing exceptional
about this case to require an expert to
opine that defendant gave a false
confession. The average juror would
understand defendant's argument that because
he was threatened with immediate death by
electrocution he gave a false confession to
save his life.
[Id. at 566.]
The Court also found that, on the record presented, the
proposed testimony "was not about a field that is at a 'state of
the art' to be considered sufficiently reliable." Id. at 565.4
4
The Court left "to another day on a different record," the
question of whether, "even without a DSM diagnosis, there might
(continued)
12 A-2990-12T3
For future guidance, the Court provided a general principle for
evaluating expert witness testimony concerning confessions:
We recognize that in some other case the
evidence presented may satisfy the New
Jersey Rules of Evidence to permit expert
testimony regarding a defendant's
confession. We are in general accord with
the Attorney General's suggestion that New
Jersey should follow the following
principle:
[E]xpert witnesses may testify to
a witness's or defendant's mental
disorder and the hypothetical
effect of that disorder. Expert
witnesses may not, however, render
an opinion on the defendant's
veracity or reliability of a
confession because whether a
confession is reliable is a matter
in the jury's exclusive province;
it is essential that the testimony
actually tell jurors something
they would not otherwise know from
their usual human experience and
that it remain hypothetical or
theoretical, and it must stop
short of expressing the expert's
judgment on the defendant's
reliability in the specific
instance of the confession
submitted for the jury's
consideration.
[Id. at 566-67 (quoting 23 C.J.S. Criminal
Law § 1444 (2006) (footnotes omitted)).]
The Court analogized that principle to the rule allowing
expert opinion on Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome "'to
(continued)
be some other scientifically reliable evidence to warrant expert
testimony regarding false confessions." Id. at 567.
13 A-2990-12T3
describe traits found in victims of such abuse'" but not to
assess witness credibility or other "'ultimate issues that are
for jury resolution.'" Id. at 567 (quoting State v. J.Q., 130
N.J. 554, 556 (1993)). The Court drew the same analogy to
expert testimony on battered woman's syndrome. Ibid. (citing
State v. Townsend, 186 N.J. 473, 492-93 (2006)).
This holding was consistent with the Court's prior ruling
in State v. Vandeweaghe, 177 N.J. 229 (2003). In Vandeweaghe, a
defense expert testified, based on defendant's history of
alcohol addiction and his physical symptoms at the time of the
crime, that defendant was so intoxicated that he could not form
the mens rea to commit purposeful or knowing murder. Id. at
234. In rebuttal, the State produced an expert who testified
that because defendant was a longstanding alcoholic, he was
actually less likely to be affected by ingesting large amounts
of alcohol. Id. at 234-35. The Court expressed no disapproval
of either expert's testimony about the effects of defendant's
alcohol addiction. However, the Court held it was prejudicial
error for the State's expert to also testify that the defendant
suffered from an antisocial personality disorder that made him
more likely to lie and lie successfully. Id. at 239-40. That
testimony "impermissibly usurped the jury's exclusive role in
assessing witness' credibility." Id. at 239.
14 A-2990-12T3
In State v. Townsend, supra, 186 N.J. at 479, the State
sought to present expert testimony on the issue of battered
woman's syndrome, to explain why the victim's dying declaration,
which exculpated the defendant, might not be credible. As in
this case, the expert's testimony was intended to explain to the
jury why a statement normally considered reliable (there, a
dying declaration; here, a confession) might be unreliable. The
Court held that the expert testimony was admissible. Id. at
499; see People v. Kowalski, 821 N.W. 2d 14, 36 (Mich. 2012)
(noting that "circumstances of a false confession are beyond the
average person's understanding" and expert testimony "can help
jurors understand . . . counterintuitive behavior.").
In State v. Burr, 195 N.J. 119 (2008), the Court held that
the defendant could present expert testimony about Asberger's
syndrome in order to explain to the jury defendant's seemingly
odd or suspicious behavior. Citing King with approval, the Court
reviewed the myriad situations in which expert psychiatric
testimony was appropriate. Id. at 128. "[E]vidence of mental
defect, illness, or condition has been admitted . . . to assess
credibility or otherwise evaluate the subjective perceptions of
an actor." Ibid. The Court noted that those permissible
purposes included evaluating a "defendant's false confession
claim." Ibid.15 A-2990-12T3
Applying the above cited cases to the record before us, we
agree with the trial judge that this case is similar to King and
dissimilar to Rosales and Free. Drug addiction and withdrawal
are recognized physical and psychological conditions that
defendant's expert was well qualified to explain to the jury.
See N.J.R.E. 702; King, supra, 387 N.J. Super. at 544. Further,
lay jurors might not perceive all of the ways in which a person
experiencing heroin withdrawal could be vulnerable to giving a
false confession.5 See N.J.R.E. 702. At the N.J.R.E. 104
hearing, the expert cogently explained the myriad agonizing
symptoms of withdrawal and why lay persons might not understand
the extent of withdrawal's effects on an addict.
From Crane, we derive the bedrock principle that, to have a
meaningful opportunity to attack the credibility of his
confession, a defendant must be able to present relevant
testimony that will assist the jury in its evaluation of the
confession's reliability. If a defendant has a recognized,
diagnosed mental condition, of a type that could make him or her
more vulnerable to giving a false confession, the defense has
the right to present an expert to explain the mental condition
5
Needless to say, this information may also be highly relevant
to the voluntariness of defendant's confession, an issue not
before us on this appeal.
16 A-2990-12T3
and to explain how and why it could affect the confession's
reliability.
This case illustrates the importance of such testimony.
The State's case rests heavily, if not exclusively, on
defendant's confession. The prosecutor stated at the N.J.R.E.
104 hearing that the forensic evidence was inconclusive. The
co-defendants have not implicated defendant in the crime,
although one co-defendant pled guilty and received a forty-five
year sentence. The trial judge noted, during the hearing, that
many aspects of defendant's confession may present fodder for
cross-examination of the police who conducted the interrogation.
Those include contradictions between what defendant admitted he
did to the victim and the forensic evidence found on her body,
as well as the manner in which the police conducted the
questioning. However, as defense counsel noted, without the
expert's testimony about the physical and mental effects of
heroin withdrawal, the defense would be hamstrung in explaining
to the jury why defendant would admit to a crime he did not
commit. See Crane, supra, 476 U.S. at 689, 106 S. Ct. at 2146,
90 L. Ed. 2d at 644.
As in King, we agree that an expert may testify that the
defendant's diagnosed mental problems made the defendant
vulnerable to giving a false confession and had the capacity to
affect the reliability of the defendant's confession. King,
17 A-2990-12T3
supra, 387 N.J. Super. at 537-39. In other words, the
defendant's mental condition may provide an explanation, other
than the truth, for the defendant's confession. In that
connection, the expert may explain the nature and symptoms of
the defendant's mental condition (in this case, heroin addiction
and withdrawal) and may explain how those symptoms could have
affected defendant's responses during the interrogation. From
our reading of Rosales, we conclude that the expert may not
opine that the confession was unreliable, was not credible, or
was false. Those issues are for the jury to decide. Moreover,
the trial court should provide the jurors with an appropriate
limiting instruction to guide their consideration of the
expert's testimony.
Finally, we comment on an additional, foundational issue.
While an expert can testify to hearsay in explaining his
opinion, see N.J.R.E. 703(3), the jury cannot consider the
included hearsay for its truth. Thus, a defendant may not place
before the jury the facts critical to his defense by relying on
included hearsay in his expert's opinion. In this case, there
must be some legally competent evidence that defendant was, in
fact, suffering from heroin withdrawal while the police were
interrogating him. Otherwise, his expert's testimony would be
irrelevant and a net opinion.
18 A-2990-12T3
King addressed the issue of included hearsay within a
psychological expert's testimony, and our discussion there
provides helpful guidance. We explained that an expert may
testify to statements made to him by the defendant, in order to
explain the expert's diagnosis. King, supra, 387 N.J. Super. at
548. However, the jury must be cautioned not to consider the
defendant's statements for their truth. Id. at 549. The
analysis in King is worth quoting at length:
Defendant's statements to the forensic
psychiatrist made during the interviews
present a different situation. Our courts
have consistently held that a psychiatrist
in a criminal case may testify as to what a
defendant told him or her if the expert
relied on the statements in formulating an
opinion about the defendant's mental or
psychiatric condition, and such hearsay
declarations "constituted a necessary
element in the formulation of [the]
opinion."
Of course, these hearsay statements are
not admitted for their truth, and the
expert's testimony must be circumscribed by
an appropriate limiting instruction.
Moreover, if the psychiatrist's opinion
hinges upon the truth of defendant's
statement, the jury should be further
instructed that the probative value of the
psychiatrist's opinion will depend upon
whether there is independent proof of the
hearsay statement.
We are mindful of the trial court's
concern about the potential for defendant to
allow Dr. Harris to parrot and place before
the jury defendant's version of what
occurred during the interrogation, without
the State's ability to cross-examine
19 A-2990-12T3
defendant. The trial court, however, erred
in imposing a blanket prohibition that
appears to bar testimony by Dr. Harris as to
any statements made by defendant to him
during the clinical interviews pertaining to
the interrogation. With this limitation, we
cannot perceive how Dr. Harris will be able
to provide a factual basis for his opinions
and present anything other than a net
opinion, unworthy of any consideration.
We believe a general rule of guidance
is the wiser course in the posture of this
case. . . . [W]ithin the guidelines of
N.J.R.E. 703 and the case law, Dr. Harris
shall be permitted to testify as to those
statements made to him by defendant during
the clinical interviews pertaining to the
interrogation that he relied on and were
essential to his diagnosis of defendant's
personality disorders and formulation of his
medical opinion that these disorders are
consistent with defendant's claim of false
confession. Moreover, the information should
be of a type typically relied upon in the
psychiatric community in making such
assessments and diagnoses.
[Id. at 549-50 (citations omitted).]
In this case, the expert opined that aspects of defendant's
physical conduct and appearance during the videotaped
interrogation were consistent with heroin withdrawal. The jury
could observe that conduct for themselves by watching the video,
and could accept or reject the expert's evaluation. The expert
also relied on defendant's medical records from earlier years,
which documented his long history of heroin addiction.
Additionally, the expert considered the county jail's medical
records, which included notations that, shortly before defendant
20 A-2990-12T3
confessed, he was treated with Librium, a drug used to blunt the
effects of alcohol addiction. However, the expert also based
his opinions on interviews with defendant and his family. The
jury must be instructed that they cannot consider those
interview statements for their truth.
As in King, we leave to the trial judge the task of ruling
on specific evidentiary issues that may arise during the
expert's trial testimony or during in limine motions. In that
regard, we note that the expert's testimony at the Miranda
hearing may serve as a sort of "dress rehearsal" for the trial,
without presenting the risk of jury confusion or prejudice. The
judge can readily distinguish inadmissible hearsay from
admissible evidence presented at that hearing, and the hearing
may provide a more complete picture of how the defense intends
to use this expert's testimony at the trial and what, if any,
additional factual foundation the defense may present. Nothing
in our opinion precludes the State from filing an in limine
motion prior to the trial to address specific evidentiary issues
relating to the expert's proposed trial testimony.6
Affirmed.
6
Of course, if the court determines after the Miranda hearing
that defendant's confession was not voluntary, an issue as to
which we intimate no view, issues relating to the expert's trial
testimony will become moot.
21 A-2990-12T3