United States v. Figueroa-Lopez
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
125 F.3d 1241 (1997)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Raul Figueroa-Lopez (defendant) was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. At trial, the prosecution (plaintiff) called law-enforcement officers who testified that Lopez’s behavior while he was being surveilled was consistent with behavior of an experienced drug dealer. The prosecution asked the officers to answer many of the questions “based on [their] training and experience” but did not qualify the witnesses as experts under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Lopez was convicted, and he appealed, arguing that the testimony was expert testimony but that the officers were not qualified as expert witnesses.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Trott, J.)
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