Evidence — expert testimony

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//December 13, 2013//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Evidence — expert testimony

It was not err to permit a police officer to testify as an expert about the meaning of drug trafficking code words.

“This is not a case where Johnson was testifying both as an expert and as a lay witness, where the risk of unfair prejudice is more troublesome. See, e.g., Lipscomb, 14 F.3d at 1242 (‘Testimony is understood to carry dangers of its own, particularly when the expert is also one of the officers involved in the arrest.’). Here, Johnson testified only as an expert witness; he had no prior links to Garcia, nor had he participated in investigating the case.”

Affirmed.

13-1313 U.S. v. Garcia-Avila

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Lefkow, J., Bauer, J.

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