Things That Require an Expert

Any criminal defense lawyer who's tried a case knows the feeling of getting punched in the gut when the judge softly utters the word "denied" after you've tried to call an expert to testify on behalf of the defense.  False confession expert. Eyewitness identification expert. Police procedure expert. Your defense may depend on it, but the judge won't care. Denied.

Yet the lawyer for Edward Krawetz somehow managed to get an expert on the witness stand to opine that the defendant's conduct was "objectively reasonable."  How could that be, you ask?  Well, Krawetz was a Lincoln, Rhode Island cop and this was his conduct.



You saw that, right? You saw how the drunk, belligerent woman, sitting on the curb, hands cuffed behind her back, drunk, attacked the officer with her bare foot, swatting at his shin?  Do you have any idea how much a barefooted swipe at a shin can hurt?  Must not let it happen again, or the officer might be permanently disabled on full pension and not be there for us when rapes need to be stopped.

The other police officers present did not seem terribly concerned about Krawetz's boot to the head of this woman, who had committed the heinous disorderly conduct.  The suit who approaches the officer immediately after the boot struck head struck pavement, the one who appears to be wearing a press badge type cord around his neck and asking Officer Krawetz for directions to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts.

On Thursday, the defendant’s fellow police officer at Twin River that evening testified that Officer Krawetz never expressed concern for his own safety, never said he feared serious bodily injury, never yelled out that he was in pain and never sought medical attention.

"Did he in anyway indicate to you, that he felt he was in danger of serious bodily injury?"

Patrolman Russell Enos replied, "No."

Notice how Patrolman Enos wasn't asked whether this young woman needed a damn good lesson in respecting police authority?  Anybody want to guess what his answer to that question might be?

I recall something being said to me as a youngster about not hitting girls.  I took it to heart, and even extended the message as far as not kicking women in the head with a heavy boot.  This was true regardless of whether they were handcuffed, barefooted or seated on a curb, where there wasn't a chance in the world they could do any actual harm.

And for this, the court permitted an expert, because the jury couldn't possibly determine the ultimate fact without such thoughtful assistance as to whether the cop's boot striking the head of this woman was "objectively reasonable." 

But you still won't be able to get a false confession expert before the jury.

H/T Marc Randazza

 

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