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Appeals court: Testimony in trafficking case admissible

By: Associated Press//March 25, 2021//

Appeals court: Testimony in trafficking case admissible

By: Associated Press//March 25, 2021//

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SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court has ruled a detective’s testimony in a Sheboygan County human trafficking case was admissible, despite the defendant’s argument that she was not an expert on the issue.

Markell Hogan was convicted of human trafficking in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

At the trial, Sheboygan police Detective Tamara Remington, who has training in human trafficking investigations, was allowed to testify about trends in human trafficking, including the methods and characteristics of traffickers and the common characteristics of their victims, WLUK-TV reported.

Hogan appealed his conviction, arguing the officer didn’t have sufficient specialized or scientific credentials to meet the legal requirements to be presented to the jury as an expert.

The appeals court disagreed.

“Such testimony has become prevalent in human trafficking prosecutions, but no reported Wisconsin decision has addressed its admissibility. We do so here. We hold that the type of “specialized knowledge” at issue in this case may form the basis for expert testimony and that the trial court did not err in finding this expert’s testimony reliable,” the court wrote.

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