State v. Hasan

A jury convicted Wendell Hasan (defendant) of felony murder and first-degree burglary based upon a 1985 crime in which George and Rachel Tyler were found dead in their ransacked home. Police found a bloody footprint made by a sneaker on the Tylers’ linoleum floor. A few days later, a plumber found two of George Tyler’s credit cards clogging a toilet in an apartment where Hasan lived with five family members. Police seized several pairs of shoes from the apartment, including a pair of size-11 Puma sneakers from Hasan’s bedroom. At trial, the government (plaintiff) presented circumstantial evidence that the Pumas belonged to Hasan, that blood on the Pumas’ soles was consistent with the Tylers’ blood, and that the Pumas’ soles matched the bloody footprint. Over Hasan’s objections, the trial court admitted expert testimony from a podiatrist, Dr. Robert Rinaldi. Rinaldi opined that, based on Rinaldi’s examination of the Pumas and Hasan’s feet, the Pumas belonged to Hasan within reasonable podiatric certainty. Rinaldi explained that through continued use, a shoe conforms to a foot’s contours. Rinaldi claimed that the Pumas were worn by a person who was flatfooted and had prominences on two toes, and Hasan’s feet had those characteristics. Rinaldi conceded, however, that those were very common foot characteristics. Rinaldi testified that podiatrists do not have an established science of matching sneakers to people and that Rinaldi had never before testified on the topic or performed research in the area. Hasan appealed, raising the sole issue of the trial court’s admission of Rinaldi’s expert testimony.