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Richardson v. McGriff11/15/2000
, 778 F.Supp. 7 (D. Md.1991). To the contrary, expert testimony has often been admitted in such cases. Davis v. Mason County, 927 F.2d 1473, 1484-1485 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 899, 112 S.Ct. 275, 116 L.Ed.2d 227 (1991); Samples v. City of Atlanta, 916 F.2d 1548, 1551-1552 (11th Cir. 1991); Kerr v. City of West Palm Beach, 875 F.2d 1546, 1551 (11th Cir. 1989) (expert testimony concerning expected dog bite ratios in canine units); Kladis v. Brezek, 823 F.2d 1014 (7th Cir. 1987). Nonetheless, a blanket rule that expert testimony is generally admissible in excessive force cases would be just as wrong as a blanket rule that it is not.
The facts of every case will determine whether expert testimony would assist the jury. Where force is reduced to its most primitive form--the bare hands--expert testimony might not be helpful. Add handcuffs, a gun, a slapjack, mace, or some other tool, and the jury may start to ask itself: what is mace? what is an officer's training on using a gun? how much damage can a slapjack do? Answering these questions may often be assisted by expert testimony.
A dog is a more specialized tool than a gun or slapjack. How to train a poodle to sit or roll over is not everyday knowledge and could be explained by an expert in a case where it was relevant. How to train and use a police dog are even more obscure skills. Both Knott and diGrazia were qualified to testify about this specialized knowledge by their long experience.
diGrazia's proffered testimony about the use of slapjacks is a closer issue. A club and the damage it can cause when it strikes a person's head are easily understood by most laymen. Still, diGrazia should clearly have been permitted to testify as to the prevailing standard of conduct for the use of slapjacks, even if he had been precluded from giving an opinion on the ultimate issue of whether the use in this case was reasonable.
The total, in limine exclusion of Knott and diGrazia's testimony was an abuse of discretion. Kopf, 993 F.2d at 378-79.
While I do not assay to reconcile these two cases, I note that both Greenidge and Kopf dealt with the admissibility of facts that purported to show that police conduct deviated from police training or operating procedures. Whether these facts were to be introduced via witness testimony or documents is not material to the issue of whether police training or procedures are inadmissible per se because, as the majority and Respondent claim, they allow the jury to engage in 20/20 hindsight analysis of how a police officer should have acted in the ideal, rather than whether the police officer acted reasonably under the totality of the circumstances. Here, the trial court seemingly granted Respondent's motion in limine based not just on the belief that the guidelines were irrelevant to the issue of whether the deadly force was necessary at the moment the shot was fired, but also because the trial court was concerned that Petitioner was attempting to show that a deviation from the guidelines was unreasonable per se.
In light of Part II of this dissent and that police guidelines are often considered as a factor in determining the reasonableness of police conduct, I conclude that the trial court erred in refusing, at least for the reasons offered, to allow the guidelines to be admitted. The previously highlighted portions of the guidelines Petitioner sought to admit in the case sub judice were relevant to and probative of the issue of whether reasonable force was used by Respondent. These procedures are part of a Baltimore City police officer's ongoing training. They aid the Baltimore City police department in molding the "reasonable police officer." The guidelines, l
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