United States v. Semrau

2010 WL 6845092

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
U
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Semrau

United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
2010 WL 6845092

Facts

Lorne Semrau (defendant), a licensed psychologist, was indicted in a scheme to defraud various government health-care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, by submitting false claims for payment. Semrau’s attorney contacted Steven Laken, the president and CEO of Cephos Corporation, a developer of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for use in lie-detection testing. Semrau submitted to two fMRI tests, the results of which indicated that he had not acted with intent to defraud the government. Laken claimed that the technology was a completely reliable means of truth verification. The United States (plaintiff) moved to exclude Laken’s testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Daubert standard. Scientific literature on the matter suggested that fMRI technology was not yet ready for use as a means of lie detection or truth verification. Similarly, the error rate for fMRI-based lie detection was not known.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Pham, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 812,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Bioethics
Healthcare Law

Key Terms