United States v. Moore
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
521 F.3d 681 (2008)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Michael Sanders was arrested after landing at an airport with a suitcase of heroin. Sanders agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and brought the suitcase, as planned, to the car of Taofiq Afonja (defendant). Afonja was arrested but claimed that he did not know what was in the suitcase. At trial, the prosecution (plaintiff) called police officer Robert Coleman as an expert witness. Coleman testified over Afonja’s objection that based on his experience with drug deals, only people who had knowledge of a drug deal would be present at such a deal. Coleman did not provide any facts, data, principles, or methods to support his opinion. Afonja objected on the sole ground that Coleman had never experienced a drug deal like the one in this case. The trial court held that Coleman was an expert on drug deals, which covered the drug deal in this case. Afonja was convicted, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Easterbrook, J.)
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