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Appeals panel weighs reliability of hearsay, expert risk opinions in sex-offender registry case
Summary
In an oral argument before the Massachusetts Appeals Court, attorneys debated whether hearsay in police and medical records and how an expert treated certain risk factors supported a hearing examiner’s decision to require registry reporting and internet publication of an offender’s information.
A three-judge panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court heard oral arguments on Oct. 10 in John Doe No. 526823 v. Offender Registry Board over whether the hearing examiner properly weighed hearsay evidence and an expert’s opinion in assigning a moderate degree of dangerousness.
The appeal centers on whether police, EMT and other reports introduced at the hearing were properly admitted and whether the board’s examiner erred in rejecting parts of Dr. Johnson’s expert assessment. Fred Burkholder, arguing for the petitioner, told the panel that objections to hearsay were raised in the administrative record and that the examiner relied on layered hearsay without explaining its…
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