United States v. Pritchard

993 F. Supp. 2d 1203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2014 WL 341091
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJanuary 30, 2014
DocketCase No. SACR 08-00267-CJC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 993 F. Supp. 2d 1203 (United States v. Pritchard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Pritchard, 993 F. Supp. 2d 1203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2014 WL 341091 (C.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE STATISTICAL ANALYSES IN DNA EXPERT TESTIMONY

CORMAC J. CARNEY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendants Joseph Pritchard and Ronnie Johnson (together, “Defendants”) are charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. This motion in limine concerns the admissibility of key evidence — DNA evidence — connecting Defendants to the robbery. The Government’s DNA expert, Jeanne Putinier, performed a series of DNA tests on samples taken from a ski mask, a pistol, and a Superman baseball hat found in a getaway car used by the bank robbers, as well as from the interior surface of the getaway car’s windshield, and concluded that some DNA samples were consistent with Defendants’ DNA profiles. Ms. Putinier also performed statistical analysis to determine the probability of a coincidental match for each DNA sample.

Mr. Johnson, later joined by Mr. Pritch-ard, filed a motion in limine to exclude Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony. (See Dkt. No. 286 [“Mot. In Limine ”] at 4-10.) In particular, Defendants raise three objections. First, Defendants argue that Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). Second, Defendants contend that, to the extent it relies on external sources such as published databases of population frequencies for a core set of genetic markers, Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony would violate their rights under the Confrontation Clause. And third, Defendants argue that Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony should be excluded under Rule 403 because “such testimony easily devolves into the ‘prosecutor’s fallacy.” ’ (Mot. In Limine at 9.)1

At a pretrial conference held on January 14, 2014, the Court preliminarily denied Defendants’ motion to exclude Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony and declined to hold a Daubert hearing. On reconsideration, however, the Court decided to grant Defendants’ request for a Daubert hearing. A Daubert hearing was held on January 24, 2014, at which Ms. Putinier [1206]*1206testified regarding her qualifications to provide statistical analysis testimony, as well as regarding the reliability of her methodology for calculating population frequency estimates. Having considered the briefs submitted by the parties and the testimony and evidence presented at the Daubert hearing, the Court affirms its preliminary finding that Ms. Putinier’s proposed testimony is admissible. Defendants’ motion to exclude Ms. Putinier’s statistical analysis testimony is DENIED.

II. BACKGROUND

On the morning of January 22, 2008, three men wearing black ski masks and gloves robbed the Downey Savings and Loan on 17th Street in Costa Mesa. One of the robbers pointed a gun to the bank tellers’ heads and threatened to kill them if they did not follow his instructions. He commanded the bank tellers to provide money to the robbers and he then forced the employees into the bank’s vault where the robbers took more money. The bank robbers stole over $120,000.

After completing the heist, the robbers fled to a car, where an associate was waiting for them. The four then drove a few blocks from the bank, ditched the car, and got into a Toyota Sequoia driven by a second accomplice. The police soon identified the Sequoia as the getaway car and began pursuit. A 45-mile high-speed chase ensued, in which the Costa Mesa Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department, and their various helicopters pursued the Sequoia from Orange County to Los Angeles County. The chase ended when the Sequoia crashed into a tree at a shopping mall in Los Angeles. When the Sequoia crashed, the robber sitting in the front passenger seat hit his head on the front windshield, causing the windshield to crack.

After the crash, the driver, later identified as Anthony Casio, did not exit the vehicle and was arrested on site. The remaining four men ran. California Highway Patrol officers arrested one of the fleeing robbers, later identified as Deme-trick Smart, but the other three escaped. Mr. Smart subsequently identified Marvin Sanders and the two Defendants as the three robbers who had successfully fled. After the FBI arrested Mr. Sanders, he too identified the two Defendants here as his fellow bank robbers. A crime scene investigator collected evidence at the scene of the crash, including stolen cash and a bag used to carry it; hats, gloves and ski masks left behind by the robbers; and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol loaded with hollow point bullets. The investigator also swabbed the car’s interior surfaces for DNA samples. All of the collected evidence was then sent for processing to the Orange County Crime Lab for DNA analysis.

The Government asserts that it found DNA samples tying Defendants to the bank robbery on a Superman baseball hat, a ski mask, the 9mm pistol, and the interi- or surface of the Sequoia’s windshield. These samples were analyzed by Jeanne Putinier, a forensic analyst for the Orange County Crime Lab and the Government’s proposed DNA expert witness at trial. Ms. Putinier concluded that the DNA mixture obtained from the Superman baseball hat and the slide of the 9mm pistol matched Mr. Johnson’s DNA profile. (See Dkt. No. 337-7 [“Jan. 21, 2014 DNA Report”] at 1 (Superman baseball hat); Dkt. No. 337-6 [“Aug. 7, 2013 DNA Report”] at 1 (pistol slide).) She also concluded that DNA samples obtained from the ski mask and the Sequoia’s windshield matched Mr. Pritchard’s DNA profile. (See Dkt. No. 337-4 [“Oct. 5, 2009 DNA Report”] at 1 (ski mask); Dkt. No. 337-5 [“Feb. 28, 2010 [1207]*1207DNA Report”] at 1 (windshield interior).) Ms. Putinier further determined that the probability of a coincidental match — that is, the frequency of choosing another person at random who could not be excluded as a contributor to the various DNA samples — is less than 1 in 600,000 for the baseball hat sample, less than 1 in 1 trillion for the ski mask sample, less than 1 in 1 billion for the pistol slide sample, and less than 1 in 1 trillion for the Sequoia windshield interior sample. (See Jan. 21, 2014 DNA Report at 1; Oct. 5, 2009 DNA Report at 1; Aug. 7, 2013 DNA Report at 1; Feb. 28, 2010 DNA Report at 1.)

The Government seeks to offer these population frequency estimates at trial. Defendants move to exclude Ms. Putinier’s population frequency estimates because, they contend, she is unqualified to provide statistical analysis testimony and the testimony is based on unreliable methodology. Defendants also move to exclude the population frequency estimates to the extent they are based on external sources and would thus violate their rights under the Confrontation Clause. Finally, Defendants move to exclude the population frequency estimates because they contend that the probative value of such estimates is outweighed by the estimates’ prejudicial effect.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Motion to Exclude Under Rule 702

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Bluebook (online)
993 F. Supp. 2d 1203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2014 WL 341091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-pritchard-cacd-2014.