Cite as: 523 U. S. 538 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
timony by agreeing "there was remarkably little in the way of trauma to the decedent's body." Id., at 52.
Dr. Root's testimony provides no occasion for disturbing the findings of the jury in Thompson's case. His testimony that the crushing injury to Fleischli's wrist was not caused by handcuffs is far from compelling, given Deputy Coder's extensive experience with handcuff injuries (albeit with living persons) and Dr. Root's failure to offer any alternative explanation as to how the crushing injury might have occurred. His testimony that the other bruises to Fleischli's body were caused well before death is more plausible. Unlike Dr. Richards, however, Dr. Root based his conclusions not on his own examination of the body, but on his review of the record of Dr. Richards' examination. See id., at 70. It is improbable, moreover, that Fleischli had been walking about with bruises all over her body, without any witness having noticed her condition in the days and hours before Thompson murdered her. As for the infrequent sperm on the vaginal swab, Dr. Root himself suggested the cause might have been low sperm count for the male, a possibility consistent with rape. Id., at 63. Finally, Dr. Root's assessment of the overall trauma to the body was to a large extent consistent with Dr. Richards' testimony at trial. For instance, Dr. Richards testified there was no evidence of vaginal tearing or bruising in Fleischli's case, though he indicated (and Dr. Root did not dispute) there was no such evidence in the majority of rape cases. 10 Record 1629. As Dr. Root himself acknowledged, his conclusion that there was "remarkably little" trauma to Fleischli's body was lifted verbatim from Dr. Richards' own autopsy report in Fleischli's case. 1 Tr. 52 (Aug. 5, 1997).
To say that no reasonable juror would have convicted Thompson of rape if presented with Dr. Root's testimony, then, we would have to ignore the totality of evidence of Thompson's guilt. This we cannot do.
565
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