Court Excludes Defendant’s Neuropsychologist in Peanut Co. Lawsuit

Following a hearing on the admissibility of expert testimony proffered as to
Stewart Parnell’s ability to form the intent to commit alleged crimes arising
from a national Salmonella outbreak linked to the Peanut Corp. of America,
the company he formerly owned, a federal court in Georgia has excluded
the expert, finding his testimony unhelpful and lacking a link to the criminal
allegations. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany
Div., order entered June 24, 2014). Details about the criminal charges appear
in Issue 472 of this Update.

Clinical psychologist Joseph Conley would have testified that Parnell has an
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder condition that was so severe he likely
never read, nor understood the significance of, many of the emails on which
the government’s case relies. According to the court, “Dr. Conley’s testimony is
a ‘diminished capacity defense’ designed to show that Parnell did not form an
intent to defraud customers, but that testimony is unhelpful to the jury. The
allegations in this case involve a complex scheme to defraud and allegations
of willfulness—not errors and mistakes in processing ‘the daily plethora of
calls and emails required in managing three companies.’”

Issue 528