03/08/11 (UT):
Artifacts Dealer is an 'Expert' Says Federal Judge
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A federal judge has rejected the government's attempt to exclude an artifacts dealer as an expert witness on prices in one of the Four Corners relic-trafficking cases.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, in Salt Lake City, ruled that Arizona dealer Dace Hyatt may testify for the defense in the case against Blanding residents Joseph Smith, Meredith Smith, Tad Kreth and Reece Laws.
From his initial review of photos of artifacts the defendants are accused of trafficking, Hyatt estimated all were worth less than $500 - the minimum in federal law for felony charges.
Federal prosecutors argued in court last month that Hyatt has no archaeological training and is not qualified to appraise artifacts. They also questioned his biases, given statements about alleged entrapment that a New Mexico newspaper attributed to him.
Stewart ruled that Hyatt's two decades in the business qualify him as an expert on prices.
"He has operated a business for several years in which reliably authenticating and valuating artifacts are essential," Stewart wrote. The judge also noted that the defense submitted evidence that the director of Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology had indicated he would rely on Hyatt's opinion of American Indian artifacts.
After Hyatt testified about his credentials last month, prosecutors filed a memorandum saying that admitting him as an expert witness could create an inference that his testimony "should be given weight or consideration." But Stewart ruled that it's up to attorneys at trial to establish Hyatt's knowledge or lack thereof.
"It is the jury's role to determine the weight expert testimony should be given," the judge wrote.
The defendants are among about two dozen ensnared in a 2009 federal sting for dealing in artifacts alleged to have been stolen from federal or tribal lands. Artifacts taken from private lands are legal for sale at auction or shops such as Hyatt's, in Show Low, Ariz.
© X-Pro 2011
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