On December 15, 2009, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii reversed the conviction of Jenaro Torres for the 1992 murder of Ruben Gallegos. The reversal was based upon the erroneous admission of testimony from a Navy Criminal Investigative Services (better known as NCIS) Agent. The agent, Robert Robbins, testified that a .38 caliber Smith and Weson revolver recovered from the defendant had been fired within 8 hours of its recovery, which was around the time that the defendant had been seen with the victim. Because Agent Robbins was never qualified as an expert, and given his experience on this topic probably could not be qualified as an expert, the appellate court ruled that he should not have been permitted to testify on this issue. The court further ruled that the prosecutor's use of Agent Robbins testimony in its closing meant that the testimony could not be harmless error. The case also contains a discussion of the history of no body murder cases and the specific evidence used against Torres. The case, State v. Torres can be found on Westlaw at 2009 WL 4810445 (2009) and points up the danger of using a lay person in a quasi-expert fashion.

Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy