Commonwealth v. Evans

603 A.2d 608, 412 Pa. Super. 332, 1992 Pa. Super. LEXIS 345
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 19, 1992
Docket1346
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 603 A.2d 608 (Commonwealth v. Evans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Evans, 603 A.2d 608, 412 Pa. Super. 332, 1992 Pa. Super. LEXIS 345 (Pa. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

HOFFMAN, Judge:

This is an appeal from judgment of sentence for rape,1 involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,2 incest,3 and terroristic threats.4 Appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing expert testimony about Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome. After reviewing the record, the parties’ briefs and arguments, we are compelled to vacate the judgment of sentence and remand the matter for a new trial.

In October, 1986, appellant was arrested and charged with various offenses allegedly involving sexual acts with his step-child and his own two children. On September 18, 1987, following a jury trial, he was convicted of rape (three counts), involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (three counts), incest (two counts), and terroristic threats (three counts). Appellant’s motion for a new trial was denied on January 25, 1991, and on March 21, 1991, appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration of not-less-than-fifty-five-years-nor-more-than-one-hundred-ten-years in a state correctional facility. This timely appeal followed.

This case arose out of incidents that are alleged to have occurred in appellant’s home from June 1982 to August 1983.5 The Commonwealth presented the testimony of three children, ages thirteen, ten, and seven, indicating that they had been sexually abused by appellant during the period in question. On cross-examination, appellant’s counsel revealed several inconsistencies in the children’s testimo[334]*334ny and the fact that there was a delay of nearly four years before the disclosure of the incidents of abuse.6

Appellant presents two issues for our review. In his first issue, appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing the expert testimony of Detective Carol Bennis of the Allentown Police Department, who testified as to a general definition of the stages of Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome.7

Detective Bennis of the Allentown Police Department’s Child Sexual Abuse division testified on behalf of the Commonwealth. Over appellant’s objection, the trial court qualified her as an expert in the area of child sexual abuse. Detective Bennis’s testimony in her capacity as an expert included a description of the five stages that constitute Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome. These stages include (1) secrecy, (2) helplessness, (3) entrapment and accommodation, (4) delayed conflicting unconvincing testimony, and (5) retraction. N.T., September 17, 1987, at 61-68. Detective Bennis testified that these stages were defined by Dr. Roland Summit, an associate professor of psychiatry at UCLA Medical Center. In her description of the secrecy stage, the detective explained that disclosure of the abuse often does not occur until the child is an adolescent. Id,., at 74. Furthermore, she acknowledged that [335]*335when a young child reports the abuse, it may be as a result of a change in that child’s lifestyle or circumstances. Id.

Detective Bennis also testified regarding the signs she had been trained to look for in a child who is a victim of sexual abuse. These signs include sexually acting out, unusual fears, nightmares, failing in school or sometimes doing excessively well, poor socialization, and suicidal behavior. Id. at 58-60. The detective then testified as to her observations of the children during the investigation of the case. According to the detective, during interviews of the three children, one child stuttered, another crawled under the table, and the third child seemed very depressed. Id. at 76-78. It is this testimony regarding the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome and Detective Bennis’s observations of the children that appellant contends the trial court improperly allowed. We agree.

“[A]dmission or exclusion of expert testimony is within the sound discretion of the trial court ... [and] will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion.” Commonwealth v. McNeely, 368 Pa.Super. 517, 520, 534 A.2d 778, 779 (1987). Furthermore, it is well-established that an expert witness may not offer testimony which concerns the issue of a witness’ credibility because that testimony improperly encroaches upon the jury’s function. Kozack v. Struth, 515 Pa. 554, 562, 531 A.2d 420, 424 (1987); Commonwealth v. Seese, 512 Pa. 439, 443, 517 A.2d 920, 922 (1986); Commonwealth v. O’Searo, 466 Pa. 224, 229, 352 A.2d 30, 32 (1976).

The trial court relied on Commonwealth v. Baldwin, 348 Pa.Super. 368, 502 A.2d 253 (1985) to permit the testimony at issue. Baldwin held that behavioral and psychological characteristics of child sexual abuse victims are proper subjects for expert testimony. Specifically, this court in Baldwin approved the admission of testimony regarding the effects of an incestuous relationship on a victim’s self-esteem, the psychological forces which cause the victim to keep the incest a secret for a long time, and the reason that victims are often unable to recall exact dates or times or [336]*336describe specific incidents in detail. Id., 348 Pa.Superior Ct. at 373-74, 502 A.2d at 255-56. The Baldwin court reasoned that the reaction and behavior of a victim are not matters of common knowledge and experience, and that expert testimony on such subjects did not encroach upon the jury’s function so long as the expert did not render an opinion on the accuracy of the victim’s testimony. Id., 348 Pa.Superior Ct. at 376-77, 502 A.2d at 257.

The Baldwin holding has been increasingly eroded by subsequent opinions of this court and our Supreme Court, both of which have disapproved of the use of expert testimony that presumes to pass directly on the veracity of witnesses. In Commonwealth v. Seese, 512 Pa. 439, 517 A.2d 920 (1986) and again in Commonwealth v. Davis, 518 Pa. 77, 541 A.2d 315 (1988), our Supreme Court held that it was error for the trial court to admit expert testimony that young children usually do not fabricate stories of sexual abuse, because such testimony encroached upon the province of the jury. Relying on the rationale of Seese, the Supreme Court later held that testimony about a related syndrome, rape trauma syndrome (RTS), was impermissible where the psychiatrist testified that the rape victim suffered from RTS and the evidence was offered to “downplay the victim’s repeated failures to identify appellant within weeks of the crimes and bolster her identification after four years.” Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 519 Pa. 291, 293, 547 A.2d 355, 356 (1988).

This court further extended the Seese, Davis, and Gallagher holdings in a number of cases. First, in Commonwealth v. Emge, 381 Pa.Super. 139, 553 A.2d 74

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Bluebook (online)
603 A.2d 608, 412 Pa. Super. 332, 1992 Pa. Super. LEXIS 345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-evans-pasuperct-1992.