People v. Felious CA2/6

DISCUSSION

Our Supreme Court has held that an expert witness may rely upon and base his opinion on admissible documents provided that the documents are admitted in the proceeding. (People v.

3 Turner, supra, 10 Cal.5th 786, 823.) “Had the report been offered and admitted under an exception, the words of the document itself would have constituted admissible hearsay. [The expert witness’s] recitation of the content of an unadmitted document remains hearsay for which no exception was established. [The expert witness] was allowed to present inadmissible hearsay as true and supportive of her opinion. This was error under California’s hearsay statutes.” (Ibid.) Here the documentary evidence that Campbell reviewed and her discussions with hospital staff constituted nearly the entire basis for her opinion. The documents were not offered by the prosecutor and admitted into evidence. Campbell’s 30-minute interview with Felious occurred several years previously and bore little relevance to his current status and substantial dangerousness. At an OMHD hearing, an expert witness cannot relate as true case-specific facts asserted in hearsay statements unless they are independently proven by…