United States v. Benavidez-Benavidez
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
217 F.3d 720 (2000)
- Written by Arlyn Katen, JD
Facts
Juan Benavidez-Benavidez (Benavidez) (defendant) was arrested after a customs agent at an Arizona port of entry discovered about 169 pounds of marijuana hidden in the doors and walls of Benavidez’s van. Benavidez and the government (plaintiff) disputed whether Benavidez had confessed to the customs agent that Benavidez was aware that he was transporting marijuana. Before trial, Benavidez attempted to introduce evidence of a polygraph examination that Benavidez believed would support his claims that he did not confess. After a thorough evidentiary hearing, the district court held that Benavidez’s proffered polygraph-examination evidence was inadmissible under Federal Rules of Evidence 403, 702, and 704(b). The district court specifically reasoned that the polygraph evidence was inadmissible under Rule 403 because there was too great a risk that the jury might afford excessive weight to Benavidez’s polygraph expert’s conclusions. Benavidez was convicted in federal district court, and Benavidez appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Benavidez argued that the district court had erred because it had misapplied the Daubert standard.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
